Yu-Gi-Oh! Dissidia: The Lost Files
by Sanokal
Summary: A companion one-shot series to Yu-Gi-Oh! Dissidia, focusing on characters from Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V. Will likely be added into the main fic when it's rewritten with ARC-V content, and are subject to change as information about ARC-V is revealed. Characters for now: Yuya, Declan, Leo, Zuzu, and Sergey. Revised first Jack chapter up!
1. Chapter 1

**Yu-Gi-Oh! Dissidia: The Lost Files**

**As my readers should be aware, Yu-Gi-Oh! Dissidia began as Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL II started, and thus it went through changes. We're now about half of the way through Yu-Gi-Oh! Dissidia, and now also into the bulk of the first third of a new series, Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V. **

**Currently, it's too soon to tell who the heroes and villains, as well as their ace monsters and upgrades, will be. The only examples that can be pinned down are two heroes, Yuya Sakaki with Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon as his ace monster and Rune-Eyes Pendulum Dragon as the current upgrade, and Declan Akaba (let's be honest, he'll end up being a good guy) with DDD Armageddon the Cruel End Overlord as his ace monster. **

**Thus, with only two characters, the fic cannot be restructured to include them. **

**For now, since I wanted to get some practice in for them, I decided to write a one-shot for both Yuya and Declan, at different points in the fic. **

**Since Declan's one-shot would take place after where we are currently up to and change those chapters a wee bit, it won't be written for a while, so we'll be starting with Duel-tainer (yes, that's what they call Entertainment Duelists in the dub) Yuya Sakaki. This also means that the fic may contain early-instalment weirdness – when I write, I generally have the dub characters in mind, so once these are rewritten and integrated into Dissidia proper, they may change (aside from the obvious name changing). I do have a bit of a helping hand with the early confirmation of Yuya's dub voice actor. **

**But enough about that. Let's begin with the dramatic intro.**

**Isolated from his friends under the attacks at the Dimensional Temple, Yuya Sakaki comes face-to-face with its master. **

**While his primary fears have been of living up to his father's legacy, now the fate of the timeline is at stake, and the pressure is more than that of living up to any crowd…**

_LOST FILE: Destiny Draw 51-II_

Yuya and Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon landed hard, it had been a long fall. Yuya was thankful that there had been flat ground to land on, given that they'd been dropped through quite the hole by…well, whoever they'd been attacked by when they'd tried to protect Yuma and Jaden from Yubel.

Yuya rubbed his tailbone; it really seemed to be an area where he got injured frequently. "Jeez…" he groaned. "Why did she have to show up like that just after we got Jaden to safety?" He looked around and took in his surroundings carefully. "Eh?" he asked.

It looked like he was in the same place that Jaden had described. Except, of course, given the events that had happened afterwards, horribly trashed; the stone of the walkway that he and Odd-Eyes were standing on was cracked and broken (and he privately figured that while he should get off it, it was lucky that he'd landed on it), and the section behind him had broken off completely.

Still, though, it was terrain that Yuya knew how to traverse, so he carefully positioned himself and grabbed onto Odd-Eyes' spikes. "Let's go, Odd-Eyes!" he said. "Up to that platform there!"

Odd-Eyes screeched in agreement, and it leapt up into the air, bounding from area to area of the walkway until it landed squarely on the platform.

Yuya hopped off his dragon carefully, testing the ground stone beneath them gingerly. Having just fallen a large distance, he wasn't all that keen to do so again. But he was prodding the stone beneath him and it seemed to be solid, so he jumped up and down a little more vigorously. "Seems to be okay…" he mused thoughtfully. He raised his hand above his eyes and looked around the room. "But I don't see anything or anyone else here… Shrugging, he walked around the circumference of the platform, but there were no other walkways besides the one that he'd just came from, and that one, of course, was broken without repair.

Maybe there were hidden walkways under the platform. Carefully testing the areas, he leaned over the edge and looked for any stairways, but there were none there either.

Yuya sighed and he walked back to the center, flopped down on his back, and took off his pendant, swinging it back and forth through the air. "Well, if Zorc's guys want to beat me, then I guess that they can just leave me down here," he commented to Odd-Eyes.

"It's too soon for that, Z-one," he heard a nasal voice say.

_Z-one?_, Yuya thought. _Isn't that the guy from Crow's timeline?_

He slipped his pendant back on, and he crawled on his belly to the edge of the platform where the voice had come from. It was the walkway, the broken walkway, and Yuya's hopes rose.

They were founded. Z-one, the hovering comma machine, and Doctor Faker, the mad scientist of Heartland, were standing on the other side of the stone walkway.

"I need to conduct my research on Aporia and combine it with the knowledge of their powers to create them," Faker explained. "And the full knowledge lies with the one who gave them their powers, and I don't know whether or not he'll cooperate."

"I am sure that he will," Z-one reassured Faker. "In the meantime, they will need an area to be tested, and this is probably the best area for it." He moved forwards, and extended his oversized hands, opening an overlay network through which a large stone block fell through. "Besides, surely you are happy for the opportunity to escape the conflict for a while?" he asked Faker.

Sighing, Faker put his head in his hand. "Let's just finish one piece of the puzzle, shall we?" he asked. He waved his hand. "Number 92: Heart-eartH Dragon, come forth!"

Yuya clapped his hand over his mouth to prevent himself from gasping as the gigantic dragon appeared above him. Purple skinned and white bellied, with a coiling body that filled the room, and its wicked jaws looked large enough to pick up Odd-Eyes without a struggle.

The dragon was arranging itself to form a bridge for Doctor Faker when it noticed Yuya, and it roared angrily. It pointed its head in Yuya's direction, and Faker leapt onto the dragon's forehead, which elevated so that he could see Yuya and Odd-Eyes crouched on the platform clear as day.

Yuya gritted his teeth as Z-one also rose into the air.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Faker asked. "Someone who heard something that they shouldn't have, no doubt," he commented.

"It will do no harm," Z-one reassured Faker. "He knows not of what we speak, so even if he escapes, he will not be able to tell anyone just what he heard."

"Wha- you, what do you mean by that?!" Yuya asked.

"Exactly what was said," Z-one replied. "You are not leaving this place without a fight…or as the case may be, without flight."

Faker began to chuckle. "You know, Z-one, I really don't know why, but I seem to remember an odd case of a simulated Shadow Game – no pain involved, though – where as each duelist lost life points, either the nearby building was repaired or demolished."

"…And you bring this situation up for what reason?" Z-one asked.

"I'm in the mood for some fun," Faker said with a smile, and Yuya brightened up considerably.

"If you want some entertainment, then I'm your guy!" he said, thumbing towards his chest. "They don't call me a Duel-tainer for nothing, you know!"

Faker smiled. "I suppose that they don't," he said. "All right, how about this? We shall duel, and whenever we lose life points or monsters, the bridge shall either be destroyed or rebuilt by Z-one here."

"I warn you that I am not some mere construction droid," Z-one said, his mechanical voice _dripping_ with indignity.

"Oh, come now Z-one, if you can't have fun in a situation such as this, when can you?" Faker chuckled, tossing a card zone into the air. It came to rest in front of him.

"All right, that sounds good to me!" Yuya replied, donning and activating his duel disk. The deck slot slid out, and the energy blade activated with a shimmer.

"Let's duel!" Yuya and Faker both cried.

"I shall take the first turn!" Faker called. "I draw!" he yelled, drawing a card from the card zone. He placed the card on the card zone. "Since I control no monsters, I can special summon Junk Forward form my hand!" A bronze robot appeared, leanly built and sprinting. (900/1500)

"Next I shall summon the tuner monster Junk Synchron!" Faker added, and his orange-armoured warrior leapt into play. (1300/500)

"A tuner monster?" Yuya asked in surprise.

"I tune my level three Junk Synchron with my level three Junk Forward!" Faker cried. Junk Synchron tugged its cord, bursting into three stars, becoming the triple rings. "And now I perform a synchro summon!" he yelled as the rings surrounded Junk Forward, causing it to fade into three aligning motes. A spear of light shone through them.

"Come forth, Junk Gardna!" Faker called. A large green warrior appeared, heavily armoured and holding its massive arms protectively in front of its body. (1400/2600)

Yuya frowned. "Aw..." he muttered. "Looks like it'll be up to me to liven things up a little."

Faker chuckled. "You're determined to have fun, aren't you, Yuya?" he asked.

Yuya nodded eagerly. "Of course I am!" he said. "And not just for me, but for the audience!" he added. "So let's make this a duel that they don't forget!"

"Then come at me, Yuya!" Faker called, slotting a card into his card zone. "I set a card face-down and end my turn!"

Yuya grinned. "My turn!" he called. "I draw!" He drew sharply, and slapped the card down on his disk's energy blade. "I summon Performapal Whip Snake!" he called. A purple cobra wearing a bow tie and top hat appeared on the field. (1700/900)

"Now I activate the effect of Whip Snake!" Yuya called. "It can switch the attack and defense points of one monster my opponent controls once per turn until the end of the turn!" Whip Snake swung the heart-shaped charm on its tail, hypnotizing Junk Gardna. It swayed as its defense points fell to 1400.

"You'd better have some building materials ready for me!" Yuya called to Z-one. "I attack Junk Gardna with Performapal Whip Snake!"

Whip Snake charged forwards, narrowing its eyes.

"I activate a trap card, Scrap-Iron Scarecrow!" Faker called. The metallic scarecrow emerged from the card and warded off Whip Snake. "This card blocks the attack of one monster and is then re-set on the field!" Faker explained.

"What? So I've got to bring out two monsters to beat that one?" Yuya asked in surprise. "That's an exciting challenge!" he commented. "You're definitely quite the showman, Doctor!" he called, sliding a card into his duel disk. "I set a card face-down and end my turn!" he finished. Junk Gardna's statistics returned to normal.

"My turn," Faker commented. "I draw!" he yelled, drawing a card from his card zone. "I'll set one monster in defense position!" he declared, and a backed horizontal image appeared. "I end my turn with that."

Yuya looked disappointed again. "Hey, come on now," he said reproachfully. "I can't carry the whole show now, can I?" He shrugged. "My turn!" he called, drawing a card. "I summon Performapal Silver Claw!" he called. A silver-furred wolf with a bowtie appeared on the field beside him.

"I'll use Whip Snake's effect again!" Yuya added, and once again, Whip Snake swung its charm tail, and Junk Gardna fell to 1400 defense points.

"Now it's time to battle!" Yuya called. "I attack Junk Gardna with Performapal Whip Snake!" Whip Snake dived forwards again, and Faker responded in kind.

"I activate the trap card, Scrap-Iron Scarecrow!" Faker replied. The iron scarecrow appeared again to block the attack and Yuya grinned. "You can only block one of my attacks per turn!" he commented. "Now I attack with Silver Claw!"

Roaring, Silver Claw charged forwards. "Silver Claw's special ability also activates!" Yuya called. "It gains three-hundred attack points until the end of the battle phase!" Silver Claw glowed yellow as it increased to 2100 attack points, and then Faker reacted.

"I activate Junk Gardna's special ability!" he called. "Once per turn I can switch one of your monsters' battle modes!"

Junk Gardna glowed, and Silver Claw pulled up short, skidding to a halt and glowing blue.

"What's this?!" Yuya asked. "And Doctor Faker pulls ahead with a monster effect!" he called. "This is a perfect defensive pattern!"

Faker decided not to comment on Yuya providing his own commentary.

Sighing, Yuya shrugged. "I end my turn with that," he said. "You aren't just going to sit around all day, are you?" he asked as Junk Gardna's defense points returned to normal again. "I mean, I'm doing my best to provide Z-one with entertainment and you're not letting things flow!"

Z-one was rather thankful that he was wearing a mask, since it allowed him to conceal his inability to deal with the situation.

Doctor Faker smiled, and then he chuckled. "Don't worry, Yuya Sakaki," he reassured Yuya. "The counterattack starts now!" he called, drawing a card.

He added it to his hand and he placed another on his card zone. "I summon another Junk Synchron to the field!" he called. Another of the orange tuners popped into play.

"Then I flip summon my set Junk Servant!" Faker called. A yellow and red robot appeared as the card flipped up. (1500/1000)

"Another tuner monster?" Yuya gasped.

"I tune my level three Junk Synchron to my level four Junk Servant!" Faker yelled. Junk Synchron once again split into the three motes of light, which became the green rings that surrounded Junk Servant, likewise causing it to fade into four motes of light, aligning themselves for a spear of light to shoot down them.

"I synchro summon Junk Archer!" Faker called.

With a burst of light, an orange armoured archer with a turquoise bow appeared. (2300/2000)

"Junk Archer's monster effect activates!" Faker declared. "I banish one monster from your side of the field until the end of this turn!" Junk Archer strung an arrow and fired, hitting Silver Claw, which howled as it vanished.

"I activate Whip Snake's effect!" Yuya called. "I can switch the attack and defense points of one monster you control!"

Whip Snake swung its charm, and Junk Archer swayed as it decreased to 2000 attack points.

"It's not enough to save you, I'm afraid, Yuya!" Faker called. "Now, Junk Archer, attack Whip Snake!"

Junk Archer fired another arrow, plunging into Whip Snake and destroying it. Yuya ducked as his life points decreased to 3700.

"Z-one!" Faker called. "If you don't mind destroying a part of that bridge…"

Z-one moved forwards, and his massive hand tore a chunk of rock out of the bridge. He carted it across to behind Faker and deposited it on the sturdier ground.

"I end my turn with that!" Faker called. "And now your Silver Claw will return to the field," he reminded Yuya, and the silver-furred wolf rematerialized.

"My turn!" Yuma called, drawing a card. He looked at it – Performapal Lizardraw. "It's here!" he said, pleased.

He added it to his hand, spread his arms and yelled, "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!"

"What's this?" Faker asked in surprise.

"I am glad that you asked, my dear audience," Yuya replied. "For you are about to witness what only I, Yuya Sakaki, can do, my Entertainment Dueling!" He held up two cards with a grin. "I use the scale four Performapal Trump Witch and the scale six Performapal Lizardraw to set the pendulum scale!" Yuya called, slapping them down onto his duel disk. The word "PENDULUM" flashed across it in rainbow letters.

A childish witch and an orange gecko in magician's gear appeared, each in a column of blue light, and a glowing number appeared beneath each of them; "4" beneath Trump Witch and "6" beneath Lizardraw. A larger version of Yuya's pedant had also appeared in the sky above them.

"With this, I'm able to summon level five monsters!" Yuya explained. "Swing, pendulum of the soul!" he called as the pendulum swung one way. "Draw an arc of light across the sky!" he continued as it swung past the other. "I pendulum summon my monster servant!" he called, and a blue burst of light emerged from a portal. "Stargazer Magician!"

A white-robed, purple-caped blonde-haired mage holding a long staff with a circular disk in the middle appeared, glowing blue. (1200/2400)

"But there's more to come!" Yuya called. "For now I summon Performapal Hip Hippo!"

A large pink hippo with a bowtie and bowler hat appeared on the field. (800/800)

"During the turn I summon Hip Hippo, I can summon a level seven or higher monster!" Yuya explained. "So I tribute Hip Hippo and Silver Claw, and I summon our main actor to the stage!" Both monsters burned away, and Yuya slid one into his graveyard and the other into his extra deck. "Pendulum monsters that would go to the graveyard from the field are sent to the extra deck instead," Yuya explained, holding up the last card in his hand. "I summon Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!"

With a roar and a screech, Odd-Eyes appeared on the field. (2500/2000)

Faker smiled. "You just emptied your hand to summon your ace monster, but it still won't be able to advance your situation any further," he remarked.

Yuya smiled in response. "Oh, but we're just getting to the climax of the first act!" he called. "I activate Trump Witch's pendulum effect!" he called. "I can fuse monsters on my field to perform a fusion summon!"

"A fusion summon?!" Doctor Faker asked in shock.

"The monsters I choose to fuse are Stargazer Magician and Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!" Yuya explained.

Trump Witch fired a blast of playing card symbols from its staff, creating a fusion vortex in the air.

"Wielder of mystery, become the bright light in the eye of the dragon!" Yuya chanted. "I fusion summon Rune-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!"

A softer version of Odd-Eyes appeared, with rounder armour and a gold ring attached to both its head and back. Its right eye was a golden symbol. (3000/2000)

"Go! Rune-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!" Yuya called, hopping on its back. "Attack Junk Gardna!"

A triangle of lightning materialized in the air and then each of the corners bonded to points in the ring on Rune-Eyes' back. Then a blast of lightning fired from one of them. "Repeating Shining Burst!" Yuya called.

"I activate the trap card, Scrap-Iron Scarecrow!" Faker yelled. "It will negate your attack!"

The Scarecrow intercepted the blast, and then disappeared under its card.

"Too bad, Yuya, but you won't be getting my monster this turn," Faker remarked.

"Oh, is that so?" Yuya asked. "When Rune-Eyes Pendulum Dragon uses a level five or higher spellcaster monster as its fusion material, it can attack monsters three times!"

"WHAT?!" Faker yelled.

"Here comes the second attack!" Yuya called. "Rune-Eyes Pendulum Dragon! Attack Junk Gardna again, with Repeating Shining Burst!"

This time, a blast of energy emerged from the second highest corner of lightning, and plunged towards Junk Gardna.

"Junk Gardna's monster effect activates!" Faker yelled. "I change Rune-Eyes to defense position!"

"I'm afraid not!" Yuya called. "Since Rune-Eyes used a pendulum summoned monster as fusion material, it is unaffected by my opponent's card effects for the rest of the turn!"

Faker gasped in shock as Junk Gardna was destroyed.

"Now, go, Rune-Eyes!" Yuya yelled. "Attack Junk Archer now! Repeating Shining Burst!"

The lowest and final corner fired a blast of energy at Junk Archer, disintegrating it.

Doctor Faker ducked away from the backlash as his life points fell to 3300.

"And now, with that, my opponent's life points have fallen!" Yuya called. "So Mr. Z-one here must rebuild the bridge a little!"

Ignoring the feeling of embarrassment, and thankful that no-one else was here, Z-one picked up some materials, and he moved forwards. He simply bolted the pieces on in a manner that would allow him to remove them again, rather than waste time demolishing it. That being said, if Yuya lost too many more life points, he'd have to start taking off more of the stone.

"Now, I'll use the effect of my Performapal Lizardraw!" Yuya called. "I draw a card, and then I can shuffle Lizardraw into the deck!" He drew, and Lizardraw faded from its pendulum zone.

"I set a card face-down and end my turn," Yuya said, slotting the card into his duel disk.

"My turn," Faker said. "I draw!" He smiled, and placed the card onto his duel disk. "I summon Junk Blader!" he called. A purple armoured warrior carrying a massive triangular sword appeared on the field. "And now I activate its monster effect: by banishing Junk monsters from my graveyard, I can increase its attack points by four-hundred for each!"

"What?" Yuya gasped.

"A lone warrior steps up with the wishes of his fellows behind him," Faker commented. "I banish five monsters: Junk Archer, Junk Forward, Junk Gardna, Junk Servant, and one Junk Synchron, increasing Junk Blader's attack points by two-thousand!" he called.

Junk Blader powered up to 3800 attack points with a groan.

"Go, Junk Blader!" Faker called. "Attack Rune-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!"

Junk Blader raised its sword and charged, even as Yuya swept his hand over his field. "I activate the quick-play spell card, Hippo Carnival!" he called. "It special summons three Hippo Tokens in defense position to shield my monsters, and for the rest of this turn, you can only target Hippo Tokens for attacks!"

Three hippos in dancing girl wear burst onto the field, one blue, one yellow, and one orange. Junk Blader cleaved the yellow one in two.

Faker blanched at the sight of the dancing tokens, and he closed his eyes. "I end my turn there…" he said slowly.

"My turn!" Yuya called. He looked at the card, and he smiled. _Thank you, Declan_, he thought, slotting the card into his disk. "I activate Pot of Riches!" he called. "By shuffling three pendulum monsters from either my extra deck or my graveyard into my deck, I can draw two cards!" he called. He held up three cards to Faker. "The monsters that I'm returning are Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, Stargazer Magician, and Performapal Sliver Claw!" He slotted the cards into his deck, it auto-shuffled, and he drew two new cards. He grinned, and he held one of them up.

"I set the scale four Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon in the pendulum zone!" he called, placing it in the left pendulum zone. Odd-Eyes appeared in the blue column of light, the number four appearing beneath it.

"What?" Faker asked. "But with this, your pendulum scale is set to four, so you can't pendulum summon!"

Yuya grinned. "Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon has a very useful pendulum effect," he explained. "But now it's time to battle!" he added. "Rune-Eyes Pendulum Dragon! Attack Junk Blader with Repeating Shining Burst!"

The triangle of lightning appeared, bonding to the four corners of Rune-Eyes' circle, and then Rune-Eyes fired a blast at Faker.

"I activate Scrap-Iron Scarecrow!" Faker called, flipping the trap card. "And I negate your attack!" The scarecrow appeared and it blocked the attack before vanishing under its card.

"Now for the next one!" Yuya called. "Repeating Shining Burst!" he yelled. Rune-Eyes fired off another blast, and this time, it struck Junk Blader squarely in the chest, disintegrating it.

Faker groaned as his life points decreased to 2100.

"I can't attack you directly with Rune-Eyes' effect," Yuya admitted. "But now that you've taken damage, I must ask Mr. Z-one to begin to rebuild the bridge!"

Z-one promptly and swiftly lifted several blocks of stone, attaching them to a frame and bolting them down.

"Now, during my end phase, I activate the effect of Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!" Yuya called. "I can destroy it…" he explained, and it exploded into dust in the pendulum zone. "…and then I can add a pendulum monster from my extra deck to my hand that has fifteen-hundred or less attack points!" Yuya called. A card slid out from his deck, and he held it up. "I add Timegazer Magician to my hand," he called. "And I end my turn!"

Faker nodded. "My turn! I draw!" he called, drawing a card. "Since you control a level five or higher monster, I can special summon Junk Giant!" he called. A burly jade-armoured giant appeared on the field. (2000/2400)

"Then I normal summon the tuner monster Junk Anchor!" Faker added, slapping a card down. A silver and magenta spindly mechanical warrior appeared beside Junk Giant, baring its chest.

"Another tuner monster?" Yuya gasped.

"I tune my level two Junk Anchor, treating it as Junk Synchron with its effect, to my level six Junk Giant!" Doctor Faker called. Junk Anchor split into twin motes of light, becoming the tuning rings that surrounded Junk Giant. "Behold as razor sharp steel and scraps of iron are forged together to create a powerful new force!" Faker cried as Junk Giant turned transparent, revealing the six stars inside it. A beam of light shot through the stars.

"I synchro summon, Junk Destroyer!" Doctor Faker called. An iron armoured giant appeared on the field, with four powerful arms and four white glider wings, a red orb and four blue orbs glowing on its chest. (2600/2500)

"Junk Destroyer's special ability activates!" Faker crowed. "I destroy a card on your field for each of Junk Destroyer's non-tuner synchro materials!"

"What?!" Yuya cried.

"I destroy Rune-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!" Faker yelled, and Yuya cried out as Junk Destroyer's blue orbs charged up, and then it released a beam of light from its red orb at Rune-Eyes. The beam impacted the dragon's blue orb, and Yuya was blasted off its back, landing hard as Rune-Eyes disintegrated.

"Now, Junk Destroyer, attack a Hippo Token!" Faker yelled. "Fists of Ferocity!"

Junk Destroyer charged forwards, swinging its fists.

"I activate the trap card, Meteorain!" Faker added, swinging his arm.

The trap flipped up and Yuya gasped. "Not Meteorain!" he cried.

Faker smirked. "I assume you know its effect then, don't you?" he asked. "Take this! Twenty-six-hundred points of piercing battle damage!"

Yuya was blasted backwards as his life points fell to 1100.

"If you would, Z-one," Faker commented.

Z-one silently began to remove the frame of stone that he'd erected, and he demolished even more of the bridge where Yuya lay, twitching as he felt his tailbone.

"I end my turn with that," Faker said as Junk Destroyer came to rest beside him.

Yuya got to his feet with a wince. "Ouch…" he muttered. "I really gotta stop doing that…" He stretched his back and rested easily on the balls of his feet. "But it's a pity that we only have Mr. Z-one for an audience," he remarked. "I'm sure that our duel would light up the hearts of many people!"

"How?" Faker asked.

Yuya chuckled. "It doesn't look like a duel from a battlefield, for one thing," he commented. "Neither of us are dueling with the intent to hurt one another!"

Faker looked at Yuya long and hard, and he smiled, bowing his head. "Then I hope that you treasure this experience, Yuya Sakaki," he admitted.

Yuya nodded eagerly. "My turn!" he called, drawing a card. "I summon Performapal Trampolynx!" he called. A purple-furred lynx wearing a top hat and with a trampoline for a main body appeared. (300/300)

"I activate Trampolynx's special ability!" Yuya called. "I can return a card in my pendulum zone to my hand, so I'll return Performapal Trump Witch to my hand!"

Tramp Witch faded from the column of blue light, and the column dissipated.

"I play one card face-down…" Yuya called, slotting a card into his duel disk. "…and I end my turn."

"You're leaving it in attack position…" Faker mused.

"Eh?" Yuya asked.

"You do not draw, and you do not summon monsters in defense position," Faker commented. "Such has dueling advanced…"

"If you're going to take your turn, just do it!" Yuya called. "Come on, Doctor! Let's make this duel an entertaining one as we approach the climax!"

Faker smiled. "My turn! I draw!" he called, drawing a card. "I discard my Garbage Ogre from my hand in order to add my Garbage Lord from my deck to my hand!" he called, sending a card from his hand to his graveyard and then a card from his deck slotted out.

"Junk Berserker attacks Performapal Trampolynx!" Faker called.

Junk Berserker charged, and Yuya flipped a trap card.

"I play the Command Performance trap card!" Yuya called. "Since I control a Performapal monster, I can switch all attack position monsters you control to defense position! And they can't change battle modes until the end of the next turn!"

A blast of light burst from the card, and Junk Destroyer shielded its eyes as it was forced into a kneeling position.

"Not bad, not bad at all, Yuya," Faker commented. "That trap was well-timed, and could always have been. I shall end my turn here."

Yuya nodded. "My turn!" he called, drawing a card. He frowned to himself. _It's not here yet…_, he thought. "I change Performapal Trampolynx to defense position!" he called. Trampolynx glowed blue and curled up with its paws over its head. "And I end my turn!"

"My turn!" Faker called, drawing a card. He smirked as he beheld the spell card, Inferno Reckless Summon. _This card will allow me to bring forth my ace Number card…_, he thought. He slid the card into his hand and plucked out another. "I pay two-thousand life-points to special summon my Garbage Lord from my hand!" he called.

A magenta robed fiend holding a staff appeared on the field as Faker's life points fell to 100. (0/2400)

"Then I activate the spell card, Inferno Reckless Summon!" Doctor Faker continued. "When I special summon a monster with fifteen-hundred or less attack points, I can call out as many copies as possible from my hand, deck or graveyard!" He slid out two cards from his deck and placed them on the card zone. "I call forth two more copies of Garbage Lord!" he called. Two more of the robed fiends appeared beside the first.

"If you like, you can call out as many copies as possible of a monster you control, regardless of attack points!" Faker informed Yuya.

Yuya gritted his teeth. _I only have one copy of Trampolynx…_, he thought grimly.

"Now, I overlay my three level five Garbage Lords!" Faker called, raising a hand. All three monsters became purple swirls and spiralled into the air.

"What?!" Yuya gasped.

"I use these three monsters to build the overlay network!" Faker called. "I'm going to unleash a force of agony and destruction! But before it appears it will need a huge supply of energy, and I xyz summon Number 53: Heart-eartH!"

Yuya gritted his teeth as he recognized the massive form that had risen up behind Doctor Faker. The creature that he'd summoned at the first battle loomed over them: a giant torso of blue frame and maroon spurs, joined by angry orange orbs. A blue number 53 flashed in the air. (100/100

"A Number monster…" Yuya muttered.

"Next, I switch Junk Destroyer into attack position!" Faker called. "And I attack Performapal Trampolynx!"

Yuya ducked as his monster was shattered by Junk Destroyer's powerful punches.

"Now, Number 53: Heart-eartH, destroy his last monster!" Faker called.

Heart-eartH blasted a beam of power at the final Hippo Token, disintegrating it.

Yuya winced as he shielded himself from the backlash.

"Now you've run out of monsters to hide behind, save the little monster in your hand," Faker observed. "Will you still keep going?"

"Of course!" Yuya called. "It would be an anti-climax if I didn't continue and just gave up now!"

Faker smiled. "Spoken like a true entertainer," he commented. "Z-one, if you would destroy the bridge just a little, since his monsters were destroyed.

Yuya jumped backwards with a yelp as Z-one chopped off another block of stone.

"I set a card face-down and I end my turn!" Faker called. The card hologram appeared before him. "This is it, Yuya Sakaki!" he told Yuya.

"Yeah!" Yuya replied, raising his arms. "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!" he called. "My field is bare of everything save a set card, and if I draw the right monster, I can defeat Doctor Faker here and now, and have Mister Z-one here rebuild the bridge to safety!"

Faker crossed his arms with a smile as Yuya grasped the top card of his deck.

"I…draw!" Yuya called, drawing the card.

It was Stargazer Magician.

"Yes, it's here," Yuya said happily.

He raised two cards in his hand. "I, using the scale one Stargazer Magician and the scale eight Timegazer Magician, set the pendulum scale!" he called, slapping the two Magician cards down. Each of the mages, the white clad-Stargazer and the black and gold clad Timegazer, rose in a column of blue light, their scale numbers appearing beneath them as the massive pendulum appeared overhead.

"With this, I'm able to summon multiple monsters from levels two to seven!" Yuya explained. "Swing, pendulum of the soul!" he called as the pendulum swung one way. "Draw an arc of light across the sky!" he continued as it swung past the other monster. "I pendulum summon my monster servants!" he called, and a blue, then a red burst of light emerged from a portal.

A gorilla with drums for pectorals, a top hat and bow, cymbals on its shoulders, and round weight instead of hands appeared on the field. (1600/900)

"First up is Performapal Drumming Kong!" Yuya called.

Then, the red light faded, revealing the dichromatic Odd-Eyes standing there with a roar.

"And, for the second time today, we have the star of the show, he of the brilliantly dichromatic eyes, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!" Yuya finished. "Give them a round of applause!"

Faker lifted his hands and clapped slowly, but sincerely.

Yuya grinned happily. "Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, attack Number 53: Heart-eartH!" he called, donning his goggles and leaping onto Odd-Eyes.

"Heart-eartH's effect activates!" Faker called. "Once per turn, when you attack it, it gains attack points equal to the original attack points of the monster that it battled!"

Heart-eartH glowed as it powered up to 2600 attack points.

"Now I see why you summoned it!" Yuya called. "It's a perfect final adversary!" He raised his hand. "I activate Drumming Kong's special ability!" he called. "It can increase the attack points of a battling monster by six-hundred during the battle phase!"

Drumming Kong began beating its chest, sending out shockwaves, and Odd-Eyes screeched as it rose to 3100 attack points.

"Go, Odd-Eyes!" Yuya called. "With those dual coloured eyes of yours, lay waste to all that you see before you!"

Odd-Eyes leapt into the air, and it began to build up energy in its jaws.

"Spiral Strike Burst!" Yuya called.

Odd-Eyes blasted a crimson plume of fire from its jaws at Heart-eartH.

"I activate my Draining Shield trap card!" Faker called. "It will negate your attack and increase my life points by the same amount!"

"Timegazer Magician's pendulum effect activates!" Yuya called. "When a pendulum monster I control battles, trap cards cannot be activated! Inverse Gears!" Timegazer Magician extended a golden ring from its right glove, and it sent out a clock-like symbol that sealed Faker's trap.

Before Faker could do more than gasp, Odd-Eyes' fire hit Heart-eartH.

"Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon's effect activates!" Yuya called. "Battle damage involving it and a monster is doubled! Reaction Force!"

Drawing its head back, Odd-Eyes fired an orange plume of fire in addition to the crimson flame that it still exuded, and it slammed into Heart-eartH.

Faker was blasted backwards. The Number wasn't destroyed, but he was hurting, and his life points fell to zero.

"My dear audience, thank you for your cheers!" Yuya called.

The monsters all vanished, save Odd-Eyes, which landed on the bridge squarely and screeched in triumph.

Sighing, Yuya removed his goggles, and he patted Odd-Eyes' hand. "Thanks, Odd-Eyes," he said. "You did great."

"As did you," said the voice of Z-one. "I see now that you have the skill to be chosen by Horahkty," he mused. "If you would wait, while I rebuild this bridge…"

Yuya nodded as Z-one bolted the frame securely to the bridge and began to fill it with stone.

Doctor Faker picked himself up from the floor. "I must commend you, Yuya Sakaki," he admitted. "To face off against me and win, it's very impressive."

"Jaden beat you," Yuya pointed out.

Faker chuckled. "That he did," he commented. "May I ask why you are here?" he asked Yuya.

Yuya clutched his pendant, thinking to himself. "I don't know yet," he admitted. "Dueling isn't a tool for violence, it's for bringing smiles and laughter to people's faces. That I'll always believe!"

Lowering his gaze, Faker appeared to be closely examining the floor. "It's people like you and Yuma Tsukumo that remind me of why I built Heartland City," he mused. "A place for children, but also a place of fun…"

"What about you?" Yuya asked. "Why are you here?"

Shaking his head, Doctor Faker looked up at Yuya. "I cannot tell you," he replied. "No, I desire someone who suffers the same as I and my…son…to divulge my secrets to," he said.

Yuya cocked his head in annoyance. "I don't like being kept in the dark," he said. "Why are you here, Doctor Faker?"

"Rest assured that this doesn't involve you," Faker reassured him. "Besides, I think that Z-one has finished his work."

Z-one moved away from the patched up bridge, and Faker stepped aside.

"You may go now, Yuya Sakaki," Faker said sadly. "Go now, and bring joy to all who you encounter."

Yuya frowned. "You guys are both weird," he commented. "But I think that you're both all right. I hope you both get what you want and no-one gets hurt."

He waved vigorously from Odd-Eyes' back. "See ya!"

With that, Odd-Eyes bounded into the depths of the tunnels to the surface, leaving Doctor Faker and Z-one in the depths of the Dimensional Temple.

**I apologize, but due to the Master Chief Collection taking up most of our broadband, I couldn't post this. **

**The next instalment won't be posted until the current arc of Dissidia is finished, largely because I wrote it previously and then the document got corrupted, leaving me to rewrite it all over again, which is pretty annoying. **

**So, yeah. That's what's happening. Three chapters of Dissidia, and then you will see the second of the Lost Files. **

**See you then!**

**Sanokal**


	2. Chapter 2

**Yu-Gi-Oh! Dissidia**

_**Declan is used to being in control. Operating as the driving force of good, but willing to step onto the front lines, this battle has taken its toll. The forces of chaos live and breathe in this battered world and no more so than this moment…**_

_LOST FILE: Destiny Draw 52-III_

Standing on top of D/D/D Cruel End Overlord Armageddon, Declan straightened his glasses and surveyed the situation as calmly as he could. There were only two foes to their three numbers, Vector and Aporia, but while Declan, Yugi and Jack only controlled a single monster each, Aporia controlled three, all three of his powerful Meklord Emperors. Each with the capability to power themselves up using a synchro monster (as Declan had discovered to his chagrin), but they had so far completely seemed to ignore Jack, the only other synchro user.

Declan knew better than that, he knew the pain that the villains liked to cause. It was predictable, really. Both Aporia and Vector were here for that reason, and Vector's revenge had the added flavour of his target being helpless to save his allies, from whatever location that Vector had teleported Reginald.

Tracking the orange armoured Meklord Emperor Granel carefully, Declan raised his hand. "Armageddon!" he ordered. "Attack!"

Armageddon blasted several purple strands of energy at the Meklord Emperor, but Granel turned and swatted the energy blasts away with ease, and then retaliated with a blast from its arm cannon.

A vortex appeared in the air to swallow the blast, and another opened in front of Mahad, the Dark Magician, blasting Meklord Emperor Skiel out of the sky. Mahad followed up with another barrage of magic blasts, and Skiel righted itself and swept through the sky, dodging the blasts handily as they exploded around it.

Meklord Emperor Wisel took the opportunity to slash at Mahad, and the strike only just missed. Mahad smacked the machine out of the way with his staff and then unleashed a blast of power that sent it sprawling.

Declan continued to advance on Aporia, having Armageddon blast continuously, with perfect tracking. Granel likewise parried blast after blast of energy, and Aporia soon settled into a rhythm of deflection.

That was his first mistake. Declan altered the path of one of Armageddon's beams, and it was redirected right back at Armageddon.

"What the-?" Aporia gasped as the beam struck home. But instead of destroying Armageddon, the powerful Different Dimension Demon absorbed the energy and began to power up even more, and Aporia gritted his teeth as he felt the monster's power surpass that of Granel's.

"Go, Armageddon!" Declan ordered. "Take down all of them!"

Armageddon blasted the absorbed power, and this time, Granel couldn't withstand the blast and it shattered into yellow dust.

Aporia was pushed backwards, and his faltering cost him, as Declan turned towards Skiel.

"Again, Armageddon!" he yelled, and Armageddon blasted more power at Skiel. Skiel was ready for the power blasts, and it dodged again and again. Declan frowned at the evasion. _I shall need more assistance…_, he thought to himself, glancing over at the heated battle taking place between Jack's Red Dragon Archfiend and Vector's Number 104: Masquerade.

Masquerade was deftly parrying punches from Red Dragon Archfiend, flicking its rings back and forth with perfect accuracy.

Declan smiled in satisfaction, and he waved his hand. "Attack Masquerade, Armageddon!" he ordered.

Vector, who'd been giggling madly as he directed his Number Over-One-Hundred, stopped his cackles and whirled around. "What?!" he shrieked as he saw purple lightning heading in his direction. One blast exploded at the Barian Emperor's feet and sent him flying, while the rest hit Masquerade solidly in the back. The Number managed to swat away the last few, but enough had gotten through to distract it from a strike from Red Dragon Archfiend, a flaming hook that floored the spellcaster.

Vector felt the blow across his face and he clutched it in pain, snarling. "All right, that's it!" he snapped, getting to his feet. "Aporia, stand down!" he yelled at the cyborg. Glaring at Declan, Vector materialized his duel disk around his left wrist. "You think you're such a chessmaster?!" he sneered at Declan. "You've got nothing on us, especially daddy!"

Declan frowned, clenching his fist. "Fine," he said, withdrawing his white duel disk from his pocket and placing it on his wrist. It automatically strapped itself on and deployed both deck zones, and then it materialized a red-edged rhombus of energy.

"Yugi, Jack, take this chance to recover and get your strength back," Declan suggested. "After I've dealt with Vector, we can get back on track."

Yami Yugi nodded, and he retreated, letting Yugi take control.

"Take him down, Declan!" he cheered, and Declan nodded.

Jack folded his arms and nodded. _This oughta be interesting,_ he thought. _I wonder how this guy duels? _Then he saw Aporia, and he glared angrily at the impassive cyborg.

"Deal with me?" Vector snorted. "I don't think so."

"Let's duel!" both Vector and Declan cried.

"I shall take the first turn," Declan declared. "I draw!" he yelled, drawing a card and adding it to his hand. "I activate two continuous spell cards from my hand. The first one is Covenant with the Infernal Gate!" he called, slotting a card into his duel disk. "This card inflicts one-thousand points of damage to me during my own standby phase."

Vector snorted. "Don't think you can throw me off, kid," he sneered. "I know all about your damage strategies, thanks to your daddy."

"But in exchange," Declan continued, ignoring Vector, who huffed in annoyance, "I am allowed to add a D/D monster from my deck to my hand once per turn." A card slid from his deck and Declan held it up. "I add D/D/D Rebellious Overlord Leonidas to my hand!" he said. He took another card from his hand and slotted it into his duel disk. "Next I shall activate Covenant with the Swamp King!" he called. "This card inflicts one-thousand points of damage to me during my standby phase," he explained. "But in exchange, once per turn I am allowed to fusion summon a fiend-type fusion monster."

He held up two cards from his hand. "I choose to fuse D/D Cerberus and D/D/D Cruel End Overlord Armageddon!" he called. A blue-furred, armless cerberus appeared, followed by the crystalline form of Armageddon. "Howling hound and transcendent king, in a whirlpool of light become one and give birth to a new king!" he chanted as the monsters swirled together. "Be born! I fusion summon D/D/D Blaze Overlord Temujin!" Declan declared, slapping a purple-bordered card onto his duel disk.

A horse-like fiend appeared, with hoofed feet and red spines, shrouded in a cloak of flame. It carried bright red armaments: a scutum shield and a broad-bladed greatsword. (6/2000/1500)

"I set one card face-down and end my turn," Declan finished, and a card image appeared in front of him.

Vector laughed. "So, you've set yourself up to lose half your life points on your next turn, have you?" he asked. "How about I help you along on your way to defeat?!" he suggested, drawing a card. "I'll play a continuous spell card of my own, Don Thousand's Throne!"

An ornate throne, all curves and points, appeared behind Vector, and he chuckled as he sat down in it. "Now I get to beat you and get some rest!" he commented snidely as four tentacles emerged from the throne and plunged into his back. Armour began to cover him, and as it sealed over his chest, a red eye opened in the center.

"Pretty fetching, but I'm just getting started!" Vector added, slotting another card into his duel disk. "I play the field spell card, Overlay World!"

Chains snaked around the area, glowing with rainbow colours.

"At the end of our turns, if we don't control an xyz monster, we'll take five-hundred points of damage!" Vector explained with a laugh. "Of course, even if I would take any damage, my Don Thousand's Throne will increase my life points by five-hundred points for each time I took battle damage!"

He slapped a card down onto his duel disk. "I now summon Umbral Horror Ghoul!" he called. A blue armoured ghoul in a black robe crawled out of a hole in the ground. (4/1800/0) "And I'll use Umbral Horror Ghoul's effect!" he added. "By reducing Ghoul's attack points to zero, I can call out another Umbral Horror monster with zero attack points from my hand!" Vector explained.

Ghoul's attack points trickled down to zero, and Vector slapped down another card. "Come forth, Umbral Horror Unform!" he called, and a shapeless, masked form appeared. (4/0/0)

Surveying Vector's field, Declan narrowed his eyes. "And now you have two level four monsters…" he mused.

"I overlay level four Umbral Horrors Ghoul and Unform!" Vector called, and both monsters transformed into purple energy swirls, spiralling into the air. "With these two dark monsters, I build the overlay network!" he yelled, a galaxy-style portal opening in front of him and the spirals twisting into it. "I xyz summon Number 66: Master Key Beetle!" he yelled as the portal closed with an explosion of light. A question mark-shaped object rose into the air as a green number 66 flashed in the air, and it unfolded into a golden and red stag beetle with what appeared to be Yuma's Emperor's Key for a horn. (**4**/2500/800)

"A Number monster," Declan mused.

"Master Key Beetle, attack Blaze Overlord Temujin!" Vector snarled. "Key Blast!"

Master Key Beetle blasted an energy spear from its horn at Temujin.

_How's he going to take this?_, Jack wondered as Yugi grimaced beside him.

"I reveal my face-down card!" Declan called. "Covenant with the Valkyrie!" The card flipped up, bearing a feather inscribed with the contract detailed.

"Another Covenant?" Jack asked in surprise. "But with this he'll…"

"I will take one-thousand points of damage during my standby phase, and during my turn I can also send a D/D or Covenant from my hand to the graveyard to destroy a card on the field," Declan explained. "…and all fiend-type monsters I control gain one-thousand attack points during your turn."

"What?!" Vector snarled as Temujin rose to 3000 attack points. The flaming fiend blocked the energy blast with its scutum, and then it lunged forwards with its greatsword, slicing across the beetle's thorax.

Vector hissed angrily and he ducked away as his life points fell to 3500. "Your little fusion monster can't destroy a Number!" he reminded Declan.

Jack clenched his fists. "Those blasted Numbers!" he muttered. "They're pests to get rid of…"

"But Declan knows that," Yugi pointed out. "He's smart, so he must have a plan."

Vector scoffed. "How about I make your plan worthless?" he snapped. "I activate Master Key Beetle's special ability!" he declared, sliding a card out from under it. "By using one overlay unit, it can protect a card on my field from being destroyed! And if Master Key Beetle _were _to be destroyed, then I can destroy the other card instead."

Absorbing an overlay unit into its horn, Master Key Beetle wrapped the chains around them in steel chains.

Declan raised his eyebrow. "I see," he mused. "With the protection of both Overlay World and Master Key Beetle, your monster cannot be destroyed. But then, neither too can Overlay World."

"So that means that he can't get rid of it?" Jack asked in shock. "That's hardly fair!"

"Not bad," Aporia mused to himself. "He can whittle down Declan's life points each turn while remaining relatively unscathed."

"Where was it written that I had to play _fair_?" Vector sneered, sliding a card into his duel disk. "I place one card face-down and end my turn!" He chuckled. "But my turn doesn't just end, though, since you take five-hundred points of damage from Overlay World's effect!"

"Watch out!" Yugi yelled as a blast of lightning speared from the sky towards Declan. It impacted smartly, and Declan staggered as his life points fell to 3500 as well.

Straightening up, Declan dusted off his shoulder. "And with that, you've accelerated my victory," he commented.

"What are you talking about?!" snarled Vector.

"I activate the special ability of D/D/D Rebellious Overlord Leonidas from my hand!" Declan called, holding up an orange and green bordered card. "When I have taken effect damage, I can special summon this card from my hand, and regain the damage that I took!" he explained, slapping the card down.

A warrior armoured in Greek-style golden armour and a voluminous red cape appeared on the field, holding a round shield and a cut-out zweihander. (7/2600/1200) With a groan, it glowed with rainbow light, and so did Declan, his life points returning to 4000.

"In addition…" Declan added. "…as long as I control Leonidas in a monster zone, I take no effect damage."

Vector was lost for words for a few seconds, and both Yugi and Jack gasped.

"W-WHAT?!" Vector shrieked. "You didn't!"

"I assure you, I _did_," Declan replied. "Now, it's my turn, and my three Covenant card will each inflict one-thousand points of damage to my life points." The cards appeared and glowed purple, but in response, Leonidas glowed with its rainbow light again, and the angry glow of the cards subsided.

"Now I activate the other effect of Covenant with the Infernal Gate," Declan continued. A card slid out from his deck and he held it up. "I add the D/D Night Howling tuner monster from my deck to my hand, and now I'll summon it to the field!" He placed the card down, and a monster that was all fanged mouth appeared on the field. (3/300/600)

"A tuner monster?" Jack gasped.

Aporia looked up in interest. "Oho..." he muttered.

"When this card is successfully summoned, I am allowed to revive one D/D monster from my graveyard, but reduce its attack and defense points to zero!" Declan explained. "And I choose to revive D/D Cerberus!"

With a wild snarl, the armless three-headed dog appeared on the field and its stats all fell to zero. (4/1800/600)

"I tune the level three D/D Night Howling with the level four D/D Cerberus!" Declan yelled, and Night Howling burst into triple motes of light, fading into triple green rings that were ringed by slats. They encircled Cerberus and caused it to fade into four light motes. "Howls tearing through the night, with the swiftness of a gale give birth to a new king!" Declan chanted as a spear of light shot down the rings. "Be born! I synchro summon the level seven D/D/D Gale Overlord Alexander!"

With a swirling wind, a powerful silver armoured fiend appeared, caped in green and surrounded by whirling winds. It brandished a massive blade as it came to rest beside Temujin. (7/2500/2000)

"A synchro monster as well…" Jack gasped, honestly impressed.

Aporia had an angry snarl on his face. "Synchro monsters..." he muttered.

"Bah!" Vector snarled. "Without the boost in your turn from your trap card, you still can't match, let alone destroy Master Key Beetle!"

"I'm not finished yet," Declan warned Vector. "First, Cerberus is sent to the extra deck since it's a pendulum monster. Then I activate Temujin's special ability!" he called, and Temujin raised its blade as the flames surrounding it turned purple. "When a D/D monster is special summoned, I can resurrect any D/D monster from my graveyard!"

"Any monster?!" Vector gasped.

"Be reborn!" Declan chanted. "The ruler of all kings, D/D/D Cruel End Overlord Armageddon!"

A massive graveyard portal opened up, and Armageddon rose out of it with a low groan. (8/3000/1000)

"It's still useless!" Vector yelled. "Even if you've brought out your ace monster, it still won't damage me! I'll be healed in the end of the turn by Don Thousand's Throne!"

Declan closed his eyes evenly. "So you think that I haven't thought of that?" Declan asked.

"Huh?" Vector asked.

"Get him, Declan!" Yugi called.

"Take this scumbag down!" Jack yelled. "I only regret that I can't do it myself…"

"Alexander, attack Master Key Beetle!" Declan yelled. Alexander leapt from its perch in midair and brought its sword down on Master Key Beetle's carapace, but the blow didn't do any damage, and Master Key Beetle blasted Alexander with its Key Blast, shattering the fiend instantly.

"Hah!" Vector snorted. "You've lost it, haven't you?" he asked.

Declan ignored him again. It was becoming a common practice, he reflected. "Armageddon's special ability activates!" he yelled. "When a monster I control is destroyed, Armageddon gains that monster's attack points until the end of the turn!"

This time, Vector was too shocked for words, staggering backwards with a choking sound.

"Impossible!" Aporia gasped.

"No way…" Jack gasped as Armageddon absorbed dark power, increasing to 5500 attack points.

"Go! Armageddon!" Declan yelled. "Attack Master Key Beetle!" Armageddon moved forward slowly and blasted its power beams at the Number, all eight of them punching into its carapace, crippling it, but not destroying it.

The single attack blasted Vector backwards, and his life points fell to 1000. He hit the back of the throne hard, and it cracked from the impact. The Barian Emperor howled and gasped as he hunched over, grasping the arms of the throne to keep himself upright.

"I end my turn with that," Declan said evenly.

"And since you have, Don Thousand's Throne heals me by five-hundred points!" Vector hissed. Energy streamed into him from the tentacles on his extra armour, and his life points rose to 1500. "Thanks for that, Declan!" he sneered. "Now I get to hurt Nash even more!"

Declan flinched in surprise.

"What's he mean?" Jack snapped.

Vector snorted and cackled. "Just watch!" he sneered, snapping his fingers. A screen appeared in front of him, bearing Shark's image bound in cords.

"Shark!" Yugi yelled.

"Courtesy of your friend Bakura, Nash is now suffering beautifully!" Vector sneered. "Don Thousand's Throne will drain him of his strength when its effect is activated!"

"You scum!" Jack snarled. "If Declan doesn't beat you down, then I'll crush you!"

"Calm down, Jack," Declan reassured him. "I'll finish this match on my next turn," he said, looking at a level seven monster in his hand. "Overlay World would inflict five-hundred points of damage to my life points since I don't control an xyz monster, but Leonidas's effect with prevent me from taking damage." A lightning fork arced out of the sky and was blocked by Leonidas, who was again glowing with a rainbow light.

"That's a bold claim to make, Declan Akaba," Aporia observed. "But I'm impressed at how you are resisting despair."

"What despair?" Declan asked. "So far, I'm not in any danger of it. And even so, I crossed the threshold of despair long ago and came back strong."

"Crossed the threshold of despair?" Jack asked.

"Oh, I bet that was when you found your father and learned that he was attacking other dimensions!" Vector sneered. "Hah! How grand! I killed _my_ father, and now you and Kite are trying to defeat yours! Want some tips?"

"Shut up!" Declan bellowed. "Like I told you, I shall be finishing this duel on my next turn."

"I don't think you will!" Vector hissed, drawing a card. "I draw!"

"Due to my Covenant with the Valkyrie, my fiend-type monsters all gain one-thousand attack points," Declan reminded Vector. Armageddon powered up to 4000 attack points, Leonidas to 3600, and Temujin to 3000.

Vector sneered as he looked at the card he drew. "I know!" he snapped. He slid the card into his duel disk. "And would you look at that! It's Mystical Space Typhoon!" he yelled. "I'll blow away your Covenant with the Valkyrie!" A lightning-laced tornado tore Declan's card apart, and his monsters' attack strengths all returned to normal.

"Next I summon Secret Sect Druid Dru!" Vector continued, slapping a card into his duel disk. A grey-robed spellcaster with twin yellow staffs appeared on the field. (4/1800/0)

"When this guy is summoned, I can revive one dark monster with either zero attack or defense points!" Vector explained. "So welcome back, Umbral Horror Ghoul!"

Umbral Horror Ghoul rose from a graveyard portal, shielding itself.

"And now I overlay my level four Umbral Horror Ghoul and Secret Sect Druid Dru!" Vector called, and both monsters became purple swirls again, spiralling into a galaxy-style portal. "I xyz summon Number 80: Rhapsody in Berserk!" he yelled, and an armoured, four-toed cone rose up, a red number 80 flashing in the air. The cone transformed into a powerful fiend, magenta caped and with stone-like tan armour. (**4**/0/1200)

"Now I'll activate Rhapsody in Berserk's effect!" Vector yelled. "By using an overlay unit, it can banish a card from your graveyard! So I'll use two overlay units…" and he removed both cards from under Rhapsody in Berserk. "…and I'll banish both Covenant with the Valkyrie and D/D Night Howling from your graveyard!" Rhapsody in Berserk absorbed an overlay unit into its chest, and then it charged forwards, slamming its fists into the ground and opening up a graveyard portal through which Declan's cards emerged. Then it banished both cards with twin swings of its large fists.

"That'll put a stop to your shenanigans with your monsters," Vector remarked. "And now, I'll also use the other effect of Rhapsody in Berserk!" he added. "I can equip it to one of my xyz monsters, and thus raise its attack points by twelve-hundred!"

"Oh no!" Yugi gasped as Rhapsody in Berserk glowed, turning into green light. It encased Master Key Beetle, armouring its carapace in stone and increasing its attack points to 3700.

"Now it can take down Armageddon with that power boost," Jack muttered worriedly.

"But you won't, will you?" Declan asked Vector.

"You're as smart as you look, Declan, but I'm afraid that the same can't be said for Jack here!" Vector taunted. "I guess you're daddy's little boy after all!"

"Forget the parent issues, why wouldn't you destroy Armageddon?" Jack asked. Then he realized what would happen, and he gasped. "Wait-!"

"_That's right,"_ Yami Yugi confirmed. _"Instead of simply destroying Armageddon, Vector can destroy Leonidas, and then Declan will take two-thousand points of damage on his next turn."_

"Won't your father be so pleased with you?" Vector asked sarcastically. "You'll have blundered in and helped us instead of helping yourself!" He raised his arm and yelled, "Now, Master Key Beetle, attack Rebellious Overlord Leonidas with Key Blast!"

Master Key Beetle blasted a lightning fork from its horn at Leonidas, hitting its shield and breaking it apart.

Declan ducked and then he yelled out in shock as he was blasted off his feet, his life points falling to 2900.

"Declan!" Yugi and Jack yelled.

Declan hit the ground hard, and bounced once, gasping.

Vector was laughing hard. "Eh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh!" he crowed. "If only daddy could see you now, Declan! What would he be thinking, huh?"

"You-!" Jack yelled angrily.

"You're next, Jackie," Vector called. "After Declan goes down next turn, I'll take you down while Aporia watches! Ah-hah-hah-hah-hah, won't that just be great?!"

"I believe that I told you I was ending this duel next turn," Declan told Vector, getting to his feet.

"If you wanna make jokes, then that's okay by me!" Vector chuckled. "Say, I bet that you've got a better sense of humour than even Yuya Sakaki! C'mon, tell another one!"

"If you would be so kind as to end your turn, then maybe I could entertain you some more," Declan said evenly.

"Hah!" Vector scoffed. "You _do_ have a sense of humour like that kid! Nice! This'll be entertaining!" He waved his arms. "Fine, I end my turn there. Do your worst, Declan! But remember, you'll be taking more damage from Overlay World's effect!"

Another lightning bolt forked from the sky and smashed into Declan. He grunted in pain as his life points fell to 2400.

"My turn!" Declan yelled, drawing a card. "During my standby phase, I will take two-thousand points of damage from both of my Covenant spell cards!"

Both of the spells appeared and glowed an angry purple, as did Declan's heart, and he grunted in pain again as his life points fell to 400.

"You have my respect," Aporia noted.

"Keh! Respect?" Vector snorted. "There's a difference between bravery and stupidity!"

"It doesn't matter, Vector, because I'm going to end the duel on this turn," Declan told him as he looked at the card that he'd drawn, D/D Prophecy Astronomer Kepler. "I'll use the effect of Covenant with the Infernal Gate to add one D/D monster from my deck to my hand!" he called. "I add D/D Prophecy Astronomer Galilei to my hand," he said, and a card slid from his deck and he added it to his hand. "Now, all the conditions are in place."

Jack raised his eyebrow. "What's he mean?" he asked.

"I use the scale one D/D Prophecy Astronomer Galilei and the scale ten D/D Prophecy Philosopher Kepler to set the pendulum scale!" Declan yelled, holding up two pendulum monsters. He slapped them down on his duel disk, and the word "PENDULUM" spelled out across it in bright rainbow letters.

Two blue pillars of light emerged beside him, and in each pillar a monster emerged that appeared to be a mechanical pillar; one craggy and angled, and one smaller and curved. The number 1 appeared beneath the craggy one, and then number 10 appeared beneath the other.

"Now I can simultaneously summon level two to nine monsters!" Declan declared. Both monsters began to work as he chanted, "Great power of my very soul, give birth to a light that dispels the darkness! Come before me, as I pendulum summon my monster servants!" He waved a card in his hand and two from his extra deck, and a portal opened in midair, from which three magenta streaks emerged. "From my extra deck, the pendulum monsters D/D/D Rebellious Overlord Leonidas and D/D Cerberus!" he called as Leonidas and Cerberus appeared. "And from my hand, D/D/D Conquest Overlord Kaiser!" he added.

A wiry fiend in a black jumpsuit, silver armour, and a red cape appeared as well. Masked behind a beard-like helmet, he brandished a large blade on a rope. (7/2800/2100)

"When Kaiser is pendulum summoned, the effects of all the cards you control are negated until the end of this turn!" Declan declared.

"WHAT?!" Vector screamed. "You can't!"

"Go, Kaiser! Airslashing Blade!" Declan yelled. Kaiser swung its blade through the air, and the windlash it left sliced into Vector's cards, causing them to dull.

"Yes!" Jack yelled, punching the air.

"Now he can destroy Master Key Beetle!" Yugi added, and then he squeaked as Jack grabbed him in an excited hug.

That's telling him, Declan!" the King of Duelists cried.

"Additionally!" Declan declared. "Kaiser's other special ability activates! By destroying two cards in my spell and trap card zones, Kaiser gains an extra attack for each of them!"

"So it will be able to attack up to three times..." Aporia mused.

"I destroy both of my Covenant cards!" Declan declared, and both of the cards exploded into dust, which sank into Kaiser and powered it up. "And now, it's time to battle!" he yelled. "For your insults you have earned my full attention, Vector!" He raised his hand. "Go! Conquest Overlord Kaiser!" he yelled. "Attack Master Key Beetle!"

Kaiser threw its blade at Master Key Beetle, and the blade shattered the Number instantly.

Vector hissed in anger as his life points fell to 1200.

"Now go! All of you!" Declan yelled. "Attack Vector's life points directly!"

Armageddon fired its beams, Kaiser, Temujin, and Leonidas lunged forwards and slashed Vector with their weapons, and Cerberus snapped at the Barian with all three of its heads.

Vector only had 1200 life points, so he wouldn't have held up against one attack, but the repeated attacks against him struck quickly and fiercely, and the Barian Emperor, trapped in Don Thousand's Throne, was helpless to do anything about it. He howled in agony for the second time in the conflict as his life points fell to zero.

"Declan, that's enough!" Jack bellowed, but it didn't seem like Declan was listening to him.

"Declan!" Yugi yelled. "Stop it, stop it now!"

But Declan didn't listen, though his expression softened. All of the attacks went through at last, and then the images disappeared.

Vector slumped forwards and collapsed into an overlay network. "Not again..." he hissed, reverting to human form. "I'll get you...I'll get you all, do you hear me!" he shrieked. "As long as I do my part I'll have my revenge one way or the other! But first...first I'll have to take care of Nash..."

With that parting taunt, he disappeared into the overlay network.

Aporia looked after him in disgust. "What a monster..." he mused. "I doubt that he can even know despair such as mine in such a state..."

"Aporia!" Jack growled, stepping forwards, but Declan held out his arm to stop him.

"Wait," the Leo Corporation CEO cautioned his ally. "It's not time yet."He narrowed his eyes. "I assume that you lack your proof of your resolve."

Jack gritted his teeth, but he stayed silent.

"And what does Z-one's servant want to tell me?" Declan asked. "How far along are we?"

Aporia kept his expression neutral. "You're halfway there...but those who are volatile are acting up. Not long ago there was a colossal defeat of your forces. I'm sure that you know of whom I speak."

He lifted into the air, and Jack started angrily. "Hey, we're not done here!"

"Don't worry," Declan reassured Jack. "You'll fight him when the time is right. We all will."

_As too must I once again stop my father's ambitions..._, Declan thought to himself.

**Right, I believe I need to answer things for people. **

**jalen johnson: I'm going to need to explain this to everyone, don't think that I'm being rude here: Yuma isn't from the Xyz Dimension. Thanks for your praise again, mate.**

**Guest: Thanks. Hope that you liked this one. It's a shame that so little has been revealed, it limits my ability to add stuff. **

**Peter Kim: I might have to rewrite this…  
I hate to be rude, but of course I'm going to have to. There's too much stuff that I need confirmed, relationships, English names, TCG effects. That being said, I think that Yuto and Yugo are more in the vein of characters like the Arclight family; they are important, but ultimately won't be in the strong trio. Of course I didn't forget them; they're characters that I like. Whether or not Yuya will have and/or use Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon and/or Clear-Wing Synchro Dragon (that hyphen actually should be in there, if you look at the Japanese name, comparing it with Odd-Eyes) will depend on what happens in the canon proper. So far, Dark Rebellion is looking like a likely candidate to see use. **

**sonofthetrigod: Thanks mate. Sorry that this took so long. Hopefully this chapter has delivered as well!**

**Jackpot 2: Faker is a special case. I think you might be able to pick how Vector and possibly Yami Marik and Sartorius would react. Still not sure whether I'll have Action Duels themselves, but I'll certainly have the more dynamic dueling style.  
Yes, well, when I was under debate she'd slipped out of the plot so that Yuya could catch up, but it's even again, so Yuzu is as I've mentioned, getting a trial chapter. **

**Anyways, I'll see you all once I've written the next Dissidia chapter...which, word of warning, might seem a bit repetitive. You'll understand why. **

**Sanokal**


	3. Chapter 3

**Yu-Gi-Oh! Dissidia: The Lost Files**

**Newly arrived in this mysterious dimension, Zuzu Boyle chooses to accompany Kite, leaving Yuya with the promise to see him again at the end of all things. **

**In Kite, she sees similarities to Shay, the duelist from the Xyz Dimension whose sister resembled her. So too is he silent, despite her attempts at conversation, but Zuzu feels that she is safe with him, safe from the constant dangers around them…**

_LOST FILE: Destiny Draw 53-I_

_**In a room of stone…**_

Sartorius looked at the seven cards on the table, laid out in two overlapping squares.

"How curious," he muttered. "I did not expect this to be laid out for me by destiny."

He closed his eyes and smiled softly. "Well, it seems that I must stop sitting on the sidelines, and both confront my obstacle and serve as one. Isn't that right, my dear Zuzu Boyle?"

_**In the Black Sands…**_

Zuzu followed Kite through the black sands awkwardly. She didn't know what to say to him, but he hadn't said anything when she'd followed him, so she figured that she might be able to stay with him.

_Wait for me, Yuya_, Zuzu thought determinedly. _I'll be sure to figure out why I'm fighting and get back to you. You already know, don't you, Yuya? You'll be fine._

Her mind turned to Yuya's five – make that six, she'd almost forgotten Astral – companions. Jaden, who reminded her of Yuya, Yuma, who seemed to have similar ideals, Crow, who'd grown up an orphan, so similar to Yugo, and Joey Wheeler, the one who everyone knew, and he was proud that they did. But he hadn't known them at all, and had seemed confused when Yuya had addressed him and Jack by name before he could even introduce himself.

Then there were Astral and Chazz. Astral, she guessed, was linked to Yuma, but she didn't know what Chazz was doing here, seeing as he acted like Silvio used to.

Now, Zuzu was wondering why Horahkty had picked her. Silvio might have been a half-decent candidate in ability, but he probably lacked the necessary proof… Gong certainly would have supported Yuya proudly, but Shay was more skilled than either of them… She knew perfectly well why Declan had been picked as soon as she'd seen the Professor standing on that cliff.

Now that she thought about it, she didn't know anything about Kite either, just that he gave off a sense strength and self-confidence.

"Why are you here?" she heard Kite ask her.

Zuzu flinched in surprise as she looked up to see that he'd stopped short and turned towards her.

"Zuzu Boyle…why did you come with me?" Kite asked.

"If I'm going to do this, then I can't do it the easy way," Zuzu replied. "I have to win with my own strength and get back to everyone."

Kite narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. "By everyone do you mean specifically Yuya?" he asked curiously.

Zuzu went bright red and she stammered, "N-No, that's not how it's like!"

Kite nodded. "Sorry," he replied. "I shouldn't have asked such a personal question."

"And what about you, Kite?" Zuzu asked. "Why are you here?"

Kite turned and began walking. "To stop my father," he replied. "Doctor Faker's technology is likely fuelling most of these guys' infrastructure, so if I take him out quickly, then we can get back home all the sooner."

"Doctor Faker's your father?" Zuzu asked, jogging to catch up with the older boy.

"That's right," Kite replied.

Zuzu looked at her feet. "Then you're just like Declan…" she murmured. "He's fighting his father here too."

"Whoopee for him," Kite replied non-committedly. "He should be able to handle it if I can."

"It doesn't bother you, fighting your own father?" Zuzu asked in shock.

"He's thrown in with his lot, and I've thrown in with mine," Kite explained. "That's all there is to it Nothing more, nothing less."

_**In another place…**_

Sartorius smiled as he looked down at the two lone duelists. _Ah, it is so satisfying to see one who has seen the light, and wields it freely,_ he thought to himself. _But _her…_, _he mused. _She is something important, isn't she? I wonder if the dear Professor will be focusing on her or on his own son…or maybe on the other one, the one of darkness. _His lip curled. _But enough of that. The song of destiny beckons._

_**In the black sands…**_

Kite's reply had disturbed Zuzu a little, to say the least. _He's more ruthless than Shay_, she thought to herself. _And Shay could get pretty bad. But Kite won't stop until he's finished, I can definitely tell that. _

A light suddenly shone in the distance, and both Zuzu and Kite covered their eyes, then slowly lowered them, blinking.

A man was sitting at a cloth-covered table, wearing a white and blue coat that looked a little familiar to Zuzu. His long grey hair was neatly arranged, and his skin was pallid, contrasting sharply with his violet eyes.

"You're Sartorius?" Kite asked.

"I'm honoured, Kite, that you know my name," Sartorius replied, rising from his seat and bowing. "One who is associated with the purity of light is always welcome. As are you, my dear," he said, bowing deeply to Zuzu.

Zuzu was a little creeped out, and she winced.

"My apologies," Sartorius said. "I seem to have unsettled you."

"W-What are you doing here?" Zuzu asked in surprise, slapping her duel disk on her arm and deploying the deck and card zones.

Zuzu held up her duel disk. "Do you think that you can take me so easily?!" she snapped.

Sartorius simply laughed in response as he shuffled his cards. "Zuzu, my dear, if a match against you were easy, than there would be no purpose in your summoning to this dimension." He laid the cards down on the table with a smile. "Do you wish to cut my cards?" he asked politely.

Zuzu's own disk had auto-shuffled her cards, so she crossed the space between her and Sartorius, and took his deck, separating it into four stacks that she switched the order of before handing the deck back to Sartorius.

"Thank you," Sartorius replied. "Now, we shall see what destiny has in store for us," he declared quietly.

As Zuzu crossed to the other side of the field, Kite stepped up to her. "If you're about to lose, I'll step in for you," he said.

Zuzu frowned. "Do you think I can't take care of myself?" she asked irritably.

A brief flicker of surprise crossed Kite's face. "I didn't mean that," he said.

"Fear not, Kite," Sartorius reassured him. "I do not partake in those despicable Shadow Games, but do be warned that the damage that you feel will still hurt."

Kite glared at Sartorius. "Enough out of you before I decide I want a piece of you myself," he retorted.

Zuzu turned to face Sartorius and held up her arm. "Okay, let's do this!" she called. "Let's duel!" she yelled, drawing five cards.

"Destiny has chosen me to take the first move," Sartorius explained, drawing six cards and laying hem face-down on the table.

"A-aren't you gonna look at your cards?" Zuzu asked in surprise.

"I need not to look at the cards that destiny has chosen for me," Sartorius explained. He picked up a card from the table and laid it down on the other side of his field, keeping his eyes closed. "Watch. I activate the field spell card, my Light Barrier," he said.

Zuzu gasped as Sartorius turned the card over; sure enough, there was a field spell card on the table. A barrier of light expanded from the card, surrounding the two duelists.

Kite was pushed backwards, but he kept his feet. He looked up with anger in his eyes. "What the heck is this thing?" he asked.

"I told you," Sartorius reminded him. "This is my Light Barrier. While this field spell is in play, I can choose which of my Arcana Force monsters' special abilities to apply when I summon them to the field. In addition, when they destroy a monster in battle, I gain life points equal to the attack points of the monster that was destroyed," he explained. He turned over a second card. "Next, I summon Arcana Force I – The Magician," he declared.

A spindly alien-like fairy appeared on the field, dressed in a clown's garb. A card appeared above it, and it began to rotate.

"Arcana Force?" Zuzu asked.

"When I summon an Arcana Force monster, the card spins," Sartorius explained. "My monster's special abilities are different based on where it lands. For example, if the Magician lands right side up, whenever a spell card is activated, its attack and defense points become double their original values during the end phase of this turn. However, should it land upside down, then whenever a spell card is activated, you will gain five-hundred life points."

"But that won't matter," Kite mused. "Not as long as that Light Barrier field spell is on the field…"

"Very perceptive, Kite," Sartorius replied. "With Light Barrier on the field, I choose for the Magician to land right side up," he declared.

Up above the monster, the card stopped upright.

"Of course, there is a downside to such a powerful ability," Sartorius explained. During my standby phase, I must spin Light Barrier every turn. If it stops right side up, then nothing happens, and the card's effects continue to be applied. However, should it stop upside down, then the effects of Light Barrier are negated until I next spin it."

Sartorius selected another card and moved it forwards. "Next, I shall place one card face-down," he declared. "And that shall end my turn."

Zuzu nodded, and she placed her fingers on her deck. "All right, it's my turn!" she called. She looked at the spell card that she'd drawn and she smiled.

"I activate the spell card, 1st Movement Solo from my hand!" she called. "I can special summon a level four or lower Melodious monster from my hand or deck if I control no monsters!"

Zuzu's duel disk ejected a card, and she slapped it on the energy blade of her duel disk. "I special summon Aria the Melodious Diva from my deck!" she declared. A pink skinned woman with purple hair appeared, wearing a maroon bodysuit and an orange sash, with what appeared to be a musical harp protruding from her back. (4/1600/1200)

"As I'm sure that you've realised, you've activated a spell card," Sartorius explained. "Since you have, the attack points of my Magician increase to double their original value.

The Magician glowed with a white light as it rose to 2200 attack points.

Frowning, Zuzu looked at her hand and selected another card. "Next, since I control a Melodious monster, I can special summon this card from my hand!" she explained. "Come to the stage, Sonata the Melodious Diva!" A yellow-skinned woman with flowing green hair appeared, clothed in a flowing blue gown, also with a harp protruding from her back. (3/1200/1000)

"Now Sonata's special ability activates!" Zuzu called. "Since she was special summoned, all fairy-type monsters that I control gain five-hundred attack and defense points!" she explained. Sonata opened her mouth and crooned out a warbling melody. Both her and Aria's attack points increased, Sonata rising to 1700, and Aria to 2100.

_Even that isn't enough to beat his Magician when it's powered up like that,_ Zuzu thought. _I need to complete my combo before Sartorius can find his way around it._ She slid a card into her duel disk. "I play a card face-down, and that's the verse!"

"And the Magician's points shall return to normal," Sartorius commented. The Magician's aura of light faded as its attack and defense points returned to 1100.

"Now allow me to play the first chord of the chorus," Sartorius declared. "We sing the song of destiny, Zuzu, and it begins with this." He drew a card from his deck and laid it next to the others face-down on the table. "Now, for the first chord, my Light Barrier shall spin during my standby phase," he reminded Zuzu. The card spun in the air, and it landed right side up.

"Shoot," Kite muttered irritably.

"Well what do you know?" Sartorius asked. "It's right side up. Now its effects will continue." He raised his hand and turned over another card. "I now activate the spell card, Cup of Ace," he declared. Another card appeared in the air and began to spin.

"Another one?" Zuzu asked.

"Indeed," Sartorius commented. "Destiny looks upon us all, and this card is no different. If it lands right side up, I shall draw two cards from my deck, and if it lands upside down, then you shall receive the benefit of drawing two cards."

The card spun, and it landed right side up.

"You've gotta be kidding!" Zuzu protested.

"I assure you, I am not," Sartorius replied, drawing two cards from his deck. "And now, since a spell card has been activated, the attack points of the Magician increase to double their original value." Once again, the aura of pale light surrounded the Magician, and it rose to 2200 attack and defense points.

"Next I summon Arcana Force VI – The Lovers," Sartorius declared, turning another card over. A strange figure materialized, that appeared to be a woman in a Victorian-era gown, but with an onion-shaped head. (4/1600/1600) Another card appeared above the monster's head, and it rotated quickly.

"I shall choose for the Lovers to land right side up," Sartorius explained, and the card stopped. "As such, when I sacrifice the Lovers to summon an Arcana Force monster, it can be treated as two tributes." He raised his hands with a smile. "Arcana Force I – The Magician, attack Aria the Melodious Diva, with Spheroid Stream!"

The Magician raised its hands and a sphere of light appeared in them. It concentrated, and smoke emerged from the ground and seeped towards Aria.

Aria crouched and screamed as the smoke lashed at her body.

Kite looked concerned, but then he realized that Aria wasn't just screaming, but it was a single, high warble. Not only that, but the attacks weren't destroying her, though they flicked past and stung Zuzu. Her life points fell to 3900.

"What's this?" Sartorius asked calmly.

"It's the special ability of Aria!" Zuzu explained. "When she's been special summoned, none of my Melodious monsters can be destroyed in battle or targeted by card effects!"

"I see," Sartorius mused. "I shall place a card face-down. My turn's over. And now the Magician's points shall return to normal. The glow around the Magician faded again.

"My turn!" Zuzu called.

"Am I correct in predicting that you will be playing music of a higher quality this turn?" Sartorius asked.

Zuzu looked in surprise at the spell card that she'd drawn. _I _can_ use this card to bring out a high-level Melodious Diva…hold on! Music of a higher quality? Can he really predict what destiny will cause to happen?_, she wondered. Then she shook her head. _No, no, no, NO! I am not getting distracted while I'm dueling again!_, she thought.

She added the card to her hand and selected another. "Since I control a Melodious monster, I can special summon Canon the Melodious Diva from my hand!" she called. A bespectacled aqua-skinned woman with short blue hair appeared, wearing a ballerina dress with puffy sleeves and a jagged skirt. (4/1400/2000) Her stats increased through Aria's special ability to 2000 and 2500.

"Now I activate the spell card, Transmodify!" Zuzu called, slotting the card into the body of her duel disk. "I tribute one monster I control, and then I special summon one from my deck with the same type and attribute that's one level higher!" She held out her arm as she plucked a card off her duel disk. "I tribute Canon and I special summon Elegy the Melodious Diva!"

Canon vanished in a burst of green light, and a green skinned woman in purple appeared. Her skirt was in the shape of insect wing-cases, and a harp protruded from her back. She immediately began to sing. (5/2000/1200)

"You've activated another spell card, my dear Zuzu," Sartorius reminded her. "So now my Magician's attack points increase!" The Magician glowed with white light and rose to 2200 ATK.

"Elegy has a special ability too!" Zuzu replied. "While she's on the field, Melodious monsters that were special summoned can't be destroyed by effects! And not only that, when Elegy has been special summoned, all my fairy-type monsters gain three-hundred attack and defense points!"

Sartorius barely reacted as the attack points of Zuzu's monsters climbed even further, Elegy rising to 2800 attack and 2000 defense points, Aria to 2400 and 2000, and Sonata to 2000 and 1800.

Kite was honestly impressed at Zuzu's move. "Aria prevents targeting of effects and destruction in battle, while Elegy provides protection from destruction," he mused. "It's an efficient protection lock that also provides an attack boost."

"Elegy, attack the Magician!" Zuzu called, pointing at Sartorius' monster.

Elegy drew herself up, and a higher note came out of her mouth. Air began to coalesce in front of her mouth.

And then she was gone, all of the monsters were gone, with five horizontal cards appearing in their place.

"W-What just happened?!" Zuzu gasped, and on the sidelines, Kite looked surprised as well, uncrossing his arms and stepping slightly forward.

A spell card was shining next to the table that Sartorius sat at.

"I told you, didn't I Zuzu?" the fortune-teller asked. "The song of destiny weaves around us. I knew of your lock, and therefore I included the spell card Book of Eclipse in my deck. And destiny granted me the gift to have drawn it in my opening hand." The spell card faded as Sartorius placed his hands together. "The Book of Eclipse flips every monster on the field into face-down position until the end of this turn, and then it flips them up again. A non-targeting effect that does not destroy your monsters. Unfortunately, they have still been special summoned, and their flipping up will simply reapply their special abilities."

Zuzu gritted her teeth and clenched her fist. "I…I end my turn…" she said.

All five cards flipped face up, and Aria, Sonata, and Elegy reappeared in front of Zuzu.

"Of course, such a powerful ability comes with a bonus for you," Sartorius explained. "For every monster you controlled that was flipped face-up, you get to draw a card from your deck. And since you flipped three cards…"

"I draw three cards," Zuzu said with an irritated frown. She didn't seem worried at all.

Kite, however, was extremely worried. _This makes no sense. Sartorius shows up and duels Zuzu out of nowhere, and his flimsy excuses don't exactly hold up. I'm not worried about Zuzu losing this duel, but winning isn't everything here. Not with our worst nightmares back to haunt us. _

"I believe that it's my turn," Sartorius commented, drawing a card. "And once again, my Light Barrier shall spin to decide its fate! But of course…" and as he stopped talking, so too did the card stop spinning, landing right-side up. "…destiny ensures that the card is right side up," Sartorius explained. "Its special abilities are still in effect."

"I know how it works…" Zuzu muttered with barely disguised irritation.

"My apologies," Sartorius replied with a bow. He turned his horizontal cards over. "Now I shall flip summon both Arcana Force I – The Magician, and Arcana Force VI – The Lovers," he declared.

Both the Magician and the Lovers appeared on the field, and their cards both spun.

"Right side up, I'm guessing?" Zuzu said.

On the contrary…" Sartorius said with a small smile as the Magician's card stopped upside down. "Now that the Magician has stopped upside down, each time a spell card is activated, my opponent shall gain five-hundred life points. Of course, I needed the Lovers to stop right side up so that I can sacrifice it," he added as the Lovers card stopped right-side-up. "Now I shall sacrifice the Lovers, treating it as two monsters, in order to summon Arcana Force XVIII – The Moon."

The Lovers vanished, and in its place appeared a truly bizarre being in black armour. It had a similar face to the other Arcana Force monsters, and tentacle arms with large hand that had sucker tipped fingers with yellow globes inside the suckers. A cluster of tentacles supported the monster in place of legs, and an alien slumbered inside the being's chest, visible through a blue viewport. (7/2800/2800) A card appeared above the Moon and began to spin.

"In the tarot readings, the Moon represents uncertainty, and cautions one not to act before they are ready," Sartorius explained. "Much like you, my dear Zuzu, am I correct?"

"That's not true!" Zuzu snapped.

"Of course it isn't," Sartorius replied sympathetically, closing his eyes. "Just like how you doubt yourself and your skills, and how you wish to become stronger. You walk in the path of the light, but darkness is what is tugging at your heart. But it is not the shadowy darkness that we think of, forgive my miscommunication, but simply darker feelings." His eyes snapped open. "Now, Arcana Force XVIII – The Moon, attack Aria the Melodious Diva!" Sartorius declared.

The Moon blasted a shockwave of light energy from its face that slammed into Aria. Aria sang, and this time a barrier of sonic energy countered the blast.

Zuzu ducked back as her life points fell to 3500.

"Now, I shall place one card face-down, and end my turn," Sartorius declared, sliding a card forwards without looking at it. And now, during the end phase of this turn, I must shift control of one of my monsters to you, Zuzu, as per the upside-down ability of the Moon. Since I only have one other monster, I think that you know what is coming." He waved his hand, and the Magician moved to Zuzu's side of the field, where its attack and defense points increased to 1900.

Zuzu drew her card immediately, "My move!" she called. "I attack the Moon with Elegy!" she called.

Elegy's song intensified, air coalescing in front of her mouth, and this time, she attacked, sending a stream of air and noise towards the Moon. The Moon counterattacked, but the attack rebounded off Elegy as Aria continued to sing, and the Moon exploded.

"Very clever," Sartorius commented with a condescending tone.

"All right!" Zuzu cheered, clenching her fist triumphantly. "I attack directly, with Aria the Melodious-"

"I activate a trap card!" Sartorius called. "Call of the Haunted!"

The Moon immediately emerged from the ground, and its card began to spin above it.

"Stop! Right there!" Sartorius called, and the card stopped upside down again.

_Why is he picked the negative abilities of his cards?_, Kite wondered. _This makes no sense if he wants to win!_

Zuzu growled to herself, but it was barely noticeable. Naturally, both Sartorius and Kite picked up on it. "I play two cards face-down…" she muttered, sliding the cards into her duel disk. The backed images materialized in front of her. "…and I end my turn."

"Stop right there, my dear," Sartorius warned her. A card on his field flipped up, depicting a tornado. "I shall use Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy the card that you set on the left. A lightning-laced tornado emerged from the card and tore Zuzu's Beckoning Light card apart.

"And don't forget; since a spell card was activated, the Magician's special ability increases my life point by five-hundred points," Sartorius reminded Zuzu. White light emanated from the Magician and surrounded Sartorius, and he sighed as his life points increased to 4500. "And now, my draw!" Sartorius declared, drawing a card.

Light Barrier began to spin and once again, it landed on heads.

"How is this happening?!" Zuzu gasped.

"Surely you're not still trying to deny it, are you?" Sartorius asked. "The song of destiny ensures that the Light Barrier remains active, and thus its effects continue." He turned over another card. "Next I shall summon Arcana Force 0 – The Fool!" he declared.

An extremely strange being appeared on the field, greatly resembling the Magician, but with a head of tentacles and a darker colour scheme. (1/0/0) A card appeared above it, and it began to spin.

"Stop right there," Sartorius told it, and the card landed upside down. "Now, all of your spell, trap, and monster abilities that target the Fool are negated and destroyed."

Kite frowned. _Did he respond to a near invincible lock with a near invincible monster?_, he wondered. _But it's in attack mode, and the primary rules of the conflict state that the rules of the times before are enforced for Duel Monsters. He could have summoned that monster in defense mode, so why…_, and then he realized. _The Moon! _

Sartorius turned over another spell card. "I activate the spell card, Ace of Sword," he declared. A card appeared above his head and it began to spin, depicting several swords plunged into the ground. "First I choose one of your monsters," Sartorius explained. "If this card lands right side up, then you will take damage equal to that monster's attack strength. However, should the card land upside down, _I_ shall take that damage. And since Light Barrier cannot affect this card, then it is all up to destiny!"

"All right, stop!" Zuzu yelled.

The card stopped upright, and Zuzu groaned.

"Lucky me," Sartorius commented sarcastically. The card blasted swords past Zuzu, reducing her life points to 700. "And now the Magician's special ability increases my life points," he added as his life points rose to 5000.

Sartorius raised his hand above the Moon's card. "Now, Arcana Force XVIII – The Moon, attack the Magician!" Sartorius called. The Moon blasted another shockwave at Zuzu, shattering the Magician.

Zuzu ducked and closed her eyes as she vanished behind a cloud of smoke.

"Zuzu!" Kite gasped, letting his coolness slip ever so slightly.

"I wouldn't worry, my friend," Sartorius reassured him. "Destiny is not done with her just yet."

The smoke cleared to reveal Zuzu standing beside a shining trap card.

"Gift of the Mystical Elf increased my life points by eighteen-hundred before your attack struck," Zuzu gasped. "Three hundred points for every monster on the field! So I survive with sixteen hundred remaining." Her life point bar flashed up as she finished her explanation.

"But of course," Sartorius commented. "I shall also gain life points, due to the special ability of my Light Barrier," he explained. "Life points equal to the attack points of the monster that I just destroyed. His life points rose to 6100 as light surged around him. "And now that my turn has ended, I must transfer one monster to your side of the field, so the Fool becomes yours." The Fool transferred itself to Zuzu's field and turned to face Sartorius. "Rejoice, my dear," Sartorius commented. "The Fool cannot be destroyed in battle, nor can it be targeted by my card effects. In addition, it gains eight-hundred attack and defense points from the special abilities of your two monsters." The Fool rose to eight-hundred attack points as the Melodious monsters' song wafted around it. "Of course, such power comes with a drawback. The Fool cannot have its battle position changed without the aid of a card effect, so you risk taking damage. If this duel reached my next turn, then I could deal enough damage by attacking the Fool to claim my victory."

Zuzu swallowed, and she gripped her deck. "All right, I'm up now!" she called, drawing her card. "And you're gonna face the music, because I'm tributing both the Fool and Aria to bring out a new monster, the wonderful Mozarta the Melodious Maestra!" Both of Zuzu's monsters vanished in a burst of green light, and in their place appeared a monster with white skin and tan hair. She was clad in a resplendent crimson gown with yellow markings, held a wand in one hand, and twin keyboards in the shape of butterfly wings were affixed to her back. (8/2600/2000)

"Elegy and Sonata's song increases Mozarta's points!" Zuzu reminded Sartorius, as Mozarta rose to 3400 attack points. "I also activate Mozarta's special ability, to call another songstress to the field!" Zuzu added. "I'll call another Aria to the field!" A second Aria appeared, and she began to sing. "Aria's protective song is reapplied to my field!" Zuzu explained as Aria's points increased as well.

"That's good work," Kite mused with a grin. "She's set up an invincible protection field, in addition to a monster with over three-thousand attack points. This outta be fun to watch."

"Mozarta the Melodious Maestra, attack the Moon!" Zuzu yelled. "See what I think of your fortune telling! Graceful Wave!"

Mozarta raised her wand, and stretched her wings. Green lines lit up on the keys, and air began to coalesce in front of her. She let the blast loose, smashing into the Moon and destroying it.

Sartorius barely reacted as his life points fell to 5200.

"Now, Elegy, attack him directly!" Zuzu called.

Sartorius ducked as Elegy sang a stream of compressed sound that hit him in the chest and reduced him to 2400 life points.

"And now for the finishing blow, Aria, the Melodious Diva!" Zuzu called. "Piercing Note!"

Aria let loose a stream of song that glanced past Sartorius. His life points fell to zero.

"How's that for destiny?" Zuzu asked proudly.

Sartorius looked up and he laughed a laugh of pure mocking amusement. "Oh, Zuzu, it's unshakeable proof of how destiny can be shaped!" he declared, pulling aside the table. Tarot cards lay upon it, held down in two overlapping squares.

"This predicted the outcome of our match, my dear," Sartorius explained. "The left card in the middle row, the Fiend that represents me, and the past influences on my question. The card in the center of all, the card of Doom, representing the change in our present situation. The card on the right, the future of my question, the four of swords, indicating that I must conserve myself for later in the wake of this question. The center top card, the Wheel of Fortune is upside down, indicating reverse changes that I will require assistance for. The card to its left, the Moon, the opportunity that caused me to select you as my opponent, as I have told you what it means, the changes that oppose me. The bottom card, the eight of wands, indicating the time that works against me, and finally, the card to its right, the queen of wands, stands in my way."

Zuzu glanced up at Mozarta as the fairy-type monster vanished.

"So you see, I have predicted my loss, and yet, I have won," Sartorius explained. Light began to shine behind him, and Zuzu and Kite covered their eyes.

"We sing the song of destiny, and we can do nothing about it," Sartorius called, his voiced echoing.

When they lowered their eyes, Sartorius was gone.

Zuzu looked at Kite. "What do you think he meant by that?" she asked.

"Exactly what he said," Kite replied. "Destiny guides us, but that doesn't mean that it wants us to lose. And besides, we don't know what will happen, we're not fortune-tellers."

Zuzu nodded, and she looked at the floor. _Yuya…_, she thought sadly.

**Now to answer you all, and hopefully this wasn't too long. Except that it was. I have got to get better at Tarot readings.**

**sonofthetrigod: I forgot to mention this, but I've decided to try and make my ka battles as little homages to Monty Oum style fights, so I'm glad that you've enjoyed it! Mate I have no idea. I've ended up gravitating to Zuzu for the third hero, but I've got no idea who to use for the other villains. Probably not Sora though, but I've been wrong before.  
Remember the spat that got mentioned? It's one that I wrote before but in the rewrite it'll be much larger. Involving three certain heroes...I think you know where I'm going with this.**

**jalen johnson: Some people don't seem to... But thank you. Yeah, I enjoy Declan's deck and his air of always being up to something. It makes for teasing writing. Yeah, I've been certainly intrigued by the idea. You'll see her in the next chapter.**

**Guest: Because fusion monsters were used in Yuma's dimension. And there is no proof that says that Zexal took place in the Xyz Dimension.**

**Peter Kim: Ah, but remember that by now, Declan has duelled in this dimension, and thus the basic strategy of D/D cards (powerful effects at a heavy cost) are known to the villains. Leo hasn't seen it YET, no, but has seen it before Declan modified the deck, which is presumably a similar focus. As for including Sora, this is why I have to wait. Sora honestly seems like too minor a villain to include, but I guess we never know until we know. If he is included, he'd certainly be a good matchup against Zuzu.**


	4. UPDATE

**Don't get excited people, this isn't an update!**

**I apologize if you did. I'd like to take the time to explain what is happening currently with Dissidia and The Lost Files.**

**I'm currently in my last weeks of semester before my exams finish. As such, I won't be doing any writing – and the summaries that I've been doing on the wiki – until they finish. Which happens to be Friday the 13****th**** of November. Go figure. Additionally, I'll likely devote a lot of time to Halo 5: Guardians, though since it's a single-player game and I've got two brothers who will also be playing it, I'll still have time to write. The duel for the next chapter of Dissidia is half-written, though admittedly I might rewrite the whole thing since I started it over a year ago. **

**After that duel there are four more chapters, and then a fifth chapter, another Astral chapter that functions as downtime to wrap up the current arc. From there, the fifth and final arc (yeah, the irony does not escape me) will go forwards. **

**I've already written three out of four duels for the last four chapters of the Fourth Arc, and have an idea of what will happen for the fourth. **

**Once the Astral chapter is finished, I will write another chapter of the Lost Files before heading into any content for the fifth arc, which I've been plotting (not scripting) the duels for. This is going to be different from the last three; it will be a rewrite of a previous chapter; Jack's first chapter. And I have some juicy concepts in it. It'll still be a **_**ka**_** battle, but…oh it'll be good. **

**As ARC-V has gone on, another villain has been added to the roster definitively. Let's make no mistake; Jean-Michel Roger is a fantastic villain, and very different from most Yu-Gi-Oh! Villains. But it doesn't look like he'll be a duelist, so his status in the rewrite is up in the air. If he does appear however, he'll be paired up with possibly one of the most terrifying villains in the whole series of a creepiness level that hasn't been properly captured since Yami Marik (Yubel tried, but she also had a lot of other things going on). **

**Yep, he'll be teamed with Sergey Volkov, or whatever they name his dub counterpart. **

**Never in the entire series has an episode unnerved me more than episode 77. And now I'll be transplanting that horror into the rewrite…and he'll very likely be Zuzu's opponent again. **

**I know that I torture the characters, but even for me, this is sick. **

**Now, I need to answer the reviews of the Guest who's left them recently. It really is much easier to answer people who have an account. However, if people continue to desire answers, than I shall continue to update this update page every week with current status and answers to new reviews.**

**Guest: When I wrote that chapter, Yuya didn't have Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon in the show yet. And trust me; I am the KING of post-airing content for ARC-V, except for the omakes. Need to find out how to view those. **

**Yep, as said above, Sergey is in. Dennis, nope. He won't be in this fic, most likely. Yuri will appear before he does, and this also means that (thank god) Sora won't be appearing. **

**As for your review to 6****th****RoC; nope, it's not the same Academy from the Fusion Dimension. It's actually based on the Duel Academy Sanctuary from the 5D's manga. Sadly, the series is being rewritten and won't be updated for a while.**

**Kim: Yes. Yes he would. At least the initial part, though he'd likely know the latter, and by now Dennis has told him all about it too.  
Barrett? No. That's not happening. He would be a terrible idea. There is no way that Barrett will be in this fic. The current lineup is Leo, Yuri, and Sergey, though subject to change.**


	5. Chapter 4

**Yu-Gi-Oh! Dissidia: The Lost Files**

**Following his rival, Yusei Fudo, and Seto Kaiba, Jack Atlas is soon separated from them in the massive desert that the heroes have been deposited in him.**

**Though he doesn't show it, Jack is worried. Up until now, he has always been fighting to prove that he is the best, the strongest. As a Signer of the mighty Crimson Dragon, his duties soon turned to saving the world from the evils that pursed its destruction. **

**What proof can there possibly be of a quest for power? . . . **

_Destiny Draw 32-I_

Jack Atlas spat out another mouthful of sand. The thought of concentrating enough to find proof of why he fought was hard enough without all this blasted sand.

It was _everywhere_. The ground, his pockets, his hair, even the sky, since the winds had picked up and began whipped it around him. Jack had been forced to don his helmet to prevent it getting in his eyes.

Open your mouth to shout for you allies, however, and it quickly filled up with sand.

Jack wished he'd been wearing his Turbo Duel suit rather than his casual wear . . . if anything that Jack Atlas wore could be called casual. Instead, the sand was slowly making its way up his sleeves.

Jack stopped and shook himself, trying to get the sand out of his coat. He felt like screaming. _If only I had my Duel Runner!_, he thought angrily. _It'd be faster than walking. Okay, sure, it probably wouldn't work in this storm, but still . . ._

The he smacked himself over the head. He knew the answer.

He searched his cards, and pulled out the Red Dragon Archfiend, holding it up. His arm began to glow, the wing mark of the Crimson Dragon shining through his coat sleeve, and above him, the scarlet and black skinned dragon that was the Red Dragon Archfiend appeared above him, refraining from roaring in the sandstorm.

Jack smiled. "All right, my very soul!" he called. "Let's get the heck outta this desert."

Jack's dragon nodded, swooped in, and grabbed the Signer with its clawed hands, before lifting off.

_**In the distance…**_

A towering figure watched Jack in the distance, his red eye gleaming. He smiled as he recognized the King. "Beautiful…" he whispered.

_**In the Wasteland…**_

Jack smiled as the sand began to fade and he reached a more barren wasteland. It looked unhealthy, and completely unable to support life.

Still, he'd prefer that to all of that sand.

He signalled to his Dragon to lower to the ground, and the Red Dragon Archfiend hovered over the ground, dropping the Signer off before vanishing into its card.

Jack began walking, continuing on for a few minutes.

_From what I can tell, we're all here for a reason,_ he mused. _Not just because of our power, but because we match up with someone from our time…_ He looked at the card that he still held with a frown. _Is it Goodwin?_, he asked himself. _After all, most of my life was manipulated by him. If not Goodwin, then who else would it be?_

Jack's thoughts were interrupted as a massive earthquake shook under his feet, dislodging him.

"What was that?" he asked, getting back up.

Then it began to snow, and Jack shivered as thick snowflakes covered the ground in an instant. They built up and up until the drifts covered his knees. Jack cursed and he clambered out of the snow and on top of it, where his feet could gain some purchase.

_Obviously this new world isn't going to be that hospitable_, Jack thought. He supposed that this meant that water wouldn't be a problem, but what about food? He couldn't exactly live off his cards, even though his monsters could warm him.

He shook his head and he reached for his extra deck when he noticed a speck in the distance, and he squinted. _What is that?_, he wondered. Something was flying through the air towards Jack, and Jack did his best to squint through the snow to see what it was. It got closer, and he recognized the massive form; it was Sergey Volkov, the creep with all of the tattoos who made Crow look positively clean.

Sergey swivelled upright and he stopped short. His rockets melted the snow beneath him as he settled before Jack with a grim look on his face. Then that grin gave way to a sinister smile and he clenched his fists.

"It's good to see you again, King," he whispered.

Jack was rather surprised, but he did his best not to show it. "Well, I'm quite surprised. I must have made more of an impression on you then I first thought, Sergey Volkov," he admitted. "Especially in such a short space of time and in such a big group."

"Oh, it's been far longer than that, King," Sergey replied. "You thought that we were finished with one another after my beautiful defeat, didn't you? So did I, but I kept going, and now I have a new chance to do what I love best."

Jack frowned, had he knocked Sergey out with a stray blow from Red Dragon Archfiend? "Look, I don't quite know what your game is, but this is getting a little strange, and I think you're missing some of the facts," he said. "We've only just met, and you're getting like this?" he asked.

Sergey's face lost its monstrous smile. "Are you playing games King?" he asked. "You can't have forgotten me, not after our beautiful duel."

"Read my lips: I have no clue who on earth you are, Sergey Volkov," Jack retorted.

Sergey clenched his teeth furiously. "Impossible…has Horahkty wiped your mind clean?!" he seethed. "Maybe you'll remember if you can endure this!" he yelled, and he swiped his hand through the air. Two monstrous forms appeared above him; both as black as the deepest void; a fish-like creature covered in glowing blue lines and a hunched, chained golem covered in orange.

"I tune and fuse my monsters simultaneously!" Sergey called, and he spreads his arms as the monsters split in two; the spectres swirling together and the orange creature exploding into green rings that surrounded the other creature.

"Appear, Geo Kraken!" he called, and a giant black squid, lined in purple emerged from the vortex. "Geo Griffon!" he called as a black griffin, covered in yellow, emerged from the spear of light.

Jack backed away in shock. "What the – but those…" he gasped."They can't truly be…Earthbound Immortals, can they?"

"Earthbound Immortals?" Sergey asked. He frowned, he has heard of the term before but it didn't apply to his monsters. "My Earthbound Servants have the singular purpose of bringing you down _crashing_ King." He raised a hand and roared, "Attack him now!"

The two Earthbound Servants charged, and Jack brought his arm back and held up a card. "Rise again, my very soul!" he declared. "Red Dragon Archfiend!"

Red Dragon Archfiend appeared with a roar and launched a punch that knocked Geo Griffon backwards.

Jack hadn't expected that to work and he flinched backwards in shock. "It worked…then those really aren't Earthbound Immortals!" he gasped.

Sergey was glaring at Red Dragon Archfiend, and he realised the differences instantly. "No scars…no wounds…no splint…" he muttered."Your monster hasn't been in beautiful combat yet, no it hasn't…"

Sergey's statement sounded an awful lot like reminding Jack of his tenure under Goodwin, and it really pressed his buttons. "Keep your mouth shut about what you know little of!" he snapped. "Now get him, Red Dragon Archfiend!" he called, and Red Dragon Archfiend snapped out a right hook that smashed into Geo Griffon's face.

Sergey clutched his own face and he grimaced, but then he smiled. "At least you have some fight in you," he muttered.

Red Dragon Archfiend followed up with another strike, this time from the left, but the gelatinous body of Geo Kraken largely absorbed the blast and it lashed out with its tentacles, trying to bind Red Dragon Archfiend. When that didn't work – Red Dragon Archfiend had managed to fly out of its reach – Geo Kraken blasted Red Dragon Archfiend with purple lightning.

Jack cried out in pain as he felt the pain of the electrical charge. He retaliated by mentally ordering Red Dragon Archfiend to dive forwards and land another flaming punch, and just as quickly fly out of the way of the wriggling tentacles.

Sergey was laughing as he felt the pain. "Beautiful!" he howled.

Geo Griffon blasted yellow energy from its beak and Red Dragon Archfiend chopped it out of the way before swopping forwards and shoulder charging Geo Griffon. The Earthbound Servant chirped and coughed as Red Dragon Archfiend landed a flurry of punches and knees strike, before delivering an overhead tail strike.

Geo Griffon was barely able to keep itself from slamming into the snow, but a stomp from Red Dragon Archfiend put the griffon into the snow, before another lightning strike from Geo Kraken blasted Red Dragon Archfiend from Geo Griffon.

Geo Griffon shook off the snow and pounced into the air and blasted Red Dragon Archfiend. Red Dragon Archfiend responded by grabbing the griffon and throwing it up into the air before boosting up after it and headbutting it in the gut.

Geo Kraken seized its chance, and Sergey mirrored Geo Kraken's movements as it reached up and grabbed Red Dragon Archfiend in its tentacles. It immediately began sending shocks through the tentacles into Red Dragon Archfiend, and Jack felt spasms wrack his body. He fell to his knees as Sergey laughed at him.

"Jack Atlas! King!" he screamed. "Do you remember now?!"

"I remember…" Jack whispered.

Sergey paused in his laughter with a strange leer on his face.

"I remember how to do _this_!" Jack yelled, and Red Dragon Archfiend surrounded itself in flames. The flames scorched Geo Kraken and it released its grasp and fell backwards. Red Dragon Archfiend blasted it with a flaming punch, knocking the monster down into the snow.

Sergey hunched over from the blow with an expression of pure ecstasy on his face.

"Now, Red Dragon Archfiend!" Jack yelled. "Attack with Absolute Powerforce!"

Red Dragon Archfiend roared and flames concentrated around its right fist. It landed a powerful blow and Geo Griffon exploded into fragments of shadow that vanished like black snow on the wind.

Sergey looked up with a smirk. "If you destroy Geo Griffon you suffer its curse," he warned Jack.

Geo Griffin reappeared as a spectre and dived forwards through Red Dragon Archfiend. Jack cried out in pain as Red Dragon Archfiend exploded into shards and he was blasted backwards.

Sergey tottered on his feet with a demented smile. "I…I did it…" he whispered."King! I settled it!"

"Not on your life!" Jack snapped as he looked up.

Sergey flinched in shock as Jack rose to his feet before him.

"If you think that you can destroy my soul…" Jack warned Sergey as his mark and eyes glowed red. "…you're dead wrong."

Red Dragon Archfiend suddenly appeared on the field and it roared as Jack held up his trap card, Descending Lost Star.

"Now, I'll bring out these two tuner monsters!" Jack yelled, and he threw two cards into the air. Two little fiends holding a gong and a tuning fork appeared; one surrounded in fire and another with a carved stone attached to it.

"Now, Flare Resonator and Force Resonator; double tune with Red Dragon Archfiend!"Jack ordered as he began to glow with crimson power.

"What?" Sergey asked in shock. "You…you could never…"

"Behold!" Jack declared as his two tuner monsters split into five flaming rings. "As the star of the king in the sky…!" and the rings surrounded Red Dragon Archfiend in a circle of fire. "…and the fire of the immortals deep within the earth…" The sphere of fire expanded, blasting outwards as Sergey saw the silhouette of a dragon curled up as if it was in an egg within it, but then the heat struck him and it melted the snow. "…collide in a cosmic explosion!" Jack roared. "To synchro summon, _Red Nova Dragon!_"

The evolved red and black dragon appeared with a colossal roar as it was surrounded in fire. It raised its right hand, now with claws almost as long as the fingers and it opened its rectangular maw and roared again, lifting back its armour-covered horns and spreading its four wings as fire licked the snow around it, charring a large circle in the snow all the way down to the stone.

Sergey backed away in fear. "No…no…Geo Kraken!" he ordered. "Your special powers will devastate this new dragon!"

Geo Kraken fired beams of energy from its tentacles, but Jack smiled and Red Nova Dragon bared its chest and allowed the beams to strike it, bouncing off harmlessly.

"What is this?!" Sergey gasped.

"Did you really think that you could defeat Red Nova Dragon like that?" Jack asked. "You cannot best the power of the King! Now I'll give you a taste of just what that power can do!"

He raised his hand high up in the air and Red Nova Dragon flapped its wings and blasted off the ground. "Now go, Red Nova Dragon!" he ordered. "Blazing Soul Strike!"

Surrounding itself in flame, Red Nova Dragon soared through the air; it curved around and pierced Geo Kraken's gelatinous body just above the eyes. The wound glowed with embers as Geo Kraken flailed and beat the ground with its tentacles. It disintegrated within seconds, and Sergey clutched his head in pain and bent his head back, but he wasn't screaming in pain, but roaring in mad laughter. Then Red Nova Dragon's wing clipped him and blasted him back into the melting slush, where he lay cackling and choking.

Jack looked at Sergey in disgust. "Do you have any excuse for being the way you are, you monster?" he asked angrily, but Sergey just continued to laugh.

"You might be even more beautiful than when we last fought, King!" he howled. "AH, hahhahahahahah!" He gestured feebly with his massive hand. "Leave me in my defeat!" he ordered. "I want to find someone else to play with!"

Shaking his head, Jack turned from Sergey's wracked body and he trudged away through the snow, waving his hand and banishing Red Nova Dragon.

_It's monsters like that that we're here to defeat_, Jack thought to himself. _People who revel in destruction, or believe it to be an acceptable means to an end…_

Sergey remained giggling in the snow until a figure that was even larger than him approached him, with two robed figures at his back.

"My, what an intriguing individual," Dartz mused.

"Quite so, and yet detestable when he is firmly on the side of shadow," Sartorius mused.

"You two are both working for Zorc now, so your dislike of darkness is irrelevant," Aporia snapped. He bent down and lifted Sergey from the snow with ease.

"That was quite the display of dark power from Jack Atlas," Dartz mused.

"I wouldn't be getting any ideas," Aporia warned them. "You saw what Jack just did to Sergey; neither of you will be anything more than annoyances to him."

"Are you quite so certain my dear Aporia?" Dartz asked. "He suffers from the weakness of the human heart, and you know quite well what that can do…"

"Enough!" Aporia snapped. "Remember above all else; Z-one has asked _me_ to take care of Jack, not you. You have better targets than Jack Atlas and you know it."

"Quite true," Sartorius agreed.

Aporia nodded in satisfaction. "You need not worry, he will know despair…" he mused.

**I do apologize; it has been a bloody while owing to me doing my RvB fic. Recent reports may make the villain line-up more interesting for the remake. **

**I've started trying to amp up the summoning sequences for really **_**big**_** monsters after being very inspired by seeing the original Super Saiyan 3 transformation for the first time. HOLY JEBAZ. **

**I've got one full final duel written, and another three almost finished, in addition to one half finished. Progress is slow, but it is happening. The next Millennium Pack better give me a good Diabound…and we'll see what happens with ARC-V's Jack, who you'll notice I threw in a few references to in this chapter. **

**See you next time!**

**Sanokal**


End file.
